A New High Resolution Field Emission SEM with Variable Pressure Capabilities

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (S2) ◽  
pp. 880-881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gnauck ◽  
Volker Drexel ◽  
J. Greiser
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
High Vacuum ◽  
Ultra High Vacuum ◽  
Chamber Pressure ◽  
Variable Pressure ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Electron Microscopes ◽  
Scanning Electron

To examine non conductive samples in their natural state (i.e. without significant sample preparation) at high resolution in the SEM the technique of low voltage field emission scanning electron microscopy (LVFESEM) is used. Due to the limitation in accelerating voltage (U<1kV) this technique is limited in respect of chemical analysis. Furthermore it is not possible to examine humid and outgassing samples in high vacuum. in recent years the application of variable pressure scanning electron microscopes (VPSEM) became an important technique in materials science as well as in life science. Due to the capability of maintaining a high chamber pressure humid, outgassing and non-conductive samples, can be examined in their natural state without significant sample modification or preparation. Especially compound materials with different electron yields can be imaged without any charging effects (Fig. 2), [2]. This paper describes a high resolution field emission electron microscope, that combines low voltage and variable pressure capabilities.The high pressure capabilities of the instrument are realized by eliminating the high vacuum requirements of SEM in the microscope chamber. This is done by separating the vacuum environment in the chamber from the ultra high vacuum environment in the gun area.

Development of a Field Emission VP-SEM and Some Initial Applications

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (S2) ◽  
pp. 882-883
Author(s):  
Masako Nishimura ◽  
Sukehiro Itoh ◽  
Steve Joens
Keyword(s):  
Field Emission ◽  
Chamber Pressure ◽  
Variable Pressure ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Backscattered Electrons ◽  
Pumping System ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Gas Molecules ◽  
Residual Gas ◽  
Differential Pumping

The use of variable pressure SEMs (VP-SEMs) is increasing in various fields of science and industry, allowing microscopy in a variable pressure environment of 1 ∼ 270 Pa utilizing backscattered electrons for imaging. The VP-SEM allows microscopy of insulated samples without the need for sample preparation. Charging artifacts can be minimized as well. When the VP-SEM is operated with a cooling stage, which allows cooling of samples at −20° and above, vaporization of water from samples is reduced. This permits microscopy of wet samples at close to the natural state for extended periods of time.Poor S/N ratio and deterioration of resolution, both of which are due to collisions among residual gas molecules and primary/backscattered electrons, have limited the performance of VP-SEMs. For resolving these limitations, we have completed the development of a new field emission VP-SEM which operates with a stable Schottky field emission source, a new environmental secondary electron detector (ESED), and a multi-stage differential pumping system. Fig. 1 shows a sectional view of the column with the differential pumping system. This design allows stable gun vacuum conditions with variable specimen chamber pressure 10 through 3,000 Pa, permitting a pressure difference from the gun by 1011 Pa without problems.

Energy Filtering of Schottky Field Emission Gun Using Fringe Field Monochromator

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (S2) ◽  
pp. 646-647
Author(s):  
H.W. Mook ◽  
A.H.V. van Veen ◽  
P. Kruit
Keyword(s):  
Field Emission ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
High Vacuum ◽  
Ultra High Vacuum ◽  
Electron Gun ◽  
Fringe Field ◽  
Objective Lens ◽  
Electronic Band ◽  
Energy Width ◽  
Energy Filtering

The energy resolution which can be attained in electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is determined by the energy spread of the electron source. The energy width of a high brightness electron gun (typically 0.4 to 0.8 eV) blurs the energy spectrum. A pre-specimen energy filter or monochromator must be used to reduce the energy width of the beam below 0.1 eV to allow detailed EELS analysis of the electronic band structures in materials. The monochromator can not only improve EELS, but it is also capable of improving the spatial resolution in low voltage SEM, which is limited by the chromatic blur of the objective lens. A new type of monochromator the Fringe Field Monochromator has been designed and experiments in an ultra high vacuum setup show the monochromatisation of a Schottky Field Emission Gun.

Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy Studies of Industrial Polymers - A Survey

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 814-815
Author(s):  
E.F. Osten ◽  
M.S. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Styrene Acrylonitrile ◽  
Microscopy Techniques ◽  
Scanning Electron

We are using the term "Industrial Polymers" to refer to polymers [plastics] that are produced by the ton or (in the case of films) by the mile. For example, in descending order of world-wide use (tonnage), the top eight of these polymers are polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), styrene polymers (including polystyrene - PS, and acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene/ styrene-acrylonitrile - ABS/SAN), polyesters (PETP), polyurethane (PU), phenolics and aminoplastics.Industrial polymers, which have been produced by the millions of tons for the last five decades and are of obvious social and economic importance, have been exhaustively characterized. Structural features which affect physical properties and indicate process variables have been studied by many techniques other than microscopy (x-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, rheology, chromatographies, etc.). Microscopy techniques for polymer characterization have been well documented. Our motivation to apply field emission (high resolution) scanning electron microscopy to the study of polymers is: (1) The application of low voltage, high resolution SEM to biological materials is well characterized.

Structural Evidence for Actin-like Filaments in Toxoplasma gondii Using High-Resolution Low-Voltage Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heide Schatten ◽  
L. David Sibley ◽  
Hans Ris
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Protozoan Parasite ◽  
Cytoskeletal Network ◽  
Unicellular Organisms ◽  
Scanning Electron

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is representative of a large group of parasites within the phylum Apicomplexa, which share a highly unusual motility system that is crucial for locomotion and active host cell invasion. Despite the importance of motility in the pathology of these unicellular organisms, the motor mechanisms for locomotion remain uncertain, largely because only limited data exist about composition and organization of the cytoskeleton. By using cytoskeleton stabilizing protocols on membrane-extracted parasites and novel imaging with high-resolution low-voltage field emission scanning electron microscopy (LVFESEM), we were able to visualize for the first time a network of actin-sized filaments just below the cell membrane. A complex cytoskeletal network remained after removing the actin-sized fibers with cytochalasin D, revealing longitudinally arranged, subpellicular microtubules and intermediate-sized fibers of 10 nm, which, in stereo images, are seen both above and below the microtubules. These approaches open new possibilities to characterize more fully the largely unexplored and unconventional cytoskeletal motility complex in apicomplexan parasites.

scholarly journals A Review Of The Development Of Scanning Electron Microscopy At High Chamber Pressure

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-15
Author(s):  
Vivian Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscope ◽  
Chamber Pressure ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Electron Microscopes ◽  
Reproducible Manner ◽  
Scanning Electron

Ever since electron microscopes were developed, it has been the goal of microscopists to observe specimens in their natural state, free from artefacts which can often be introduced through specimen preparation. For most biological specimens, that includes the presence of water. With a pressure of 10-4 torr or lower required to operate a scanning electron microscope (SEM), liquid water, which required a pressure of above 5 torr, was clearly a problem.Although several attempts had been made to examine hydrated specimens in a SEM, the first published results of water imaged in a stable and reproducible manner in the SEM, were presented at the Eighth International Congress on Electron Microscopy in Canberra in 1974 (Robinson, 1974).

Electron back-scattering patterns in a field emission gun scanning electron microscope

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 564-565
Author(s):  
C.J. Harland ◽  
J.H. Klein ◽  
P. Akhter ◽  
J.A. Venables
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Polycrystalline Material ◽  
High Vacuum ◽  
Spot Size ◽  
Ultra High Vacuum ◽  
Scattering Pattern ◽  
Fluorescent Screen ◽  
Back Scattering ◽  
Scanning Electron

INTRODUCTION.The electron back-scattering pattern (EBSP) is a simple means of obtaining the crystallographic orientation of samples in the SEM. Kikuchi bands are observed on a fluorescent screen ∼15mm in front of a (tilted) sample /l/ and shadows, for example of three spherical balls, can be used to obtain orientation determinations accurate to ± 0. 5° /2/. We have also shown that a fibre-optic detector of angular diameter <2θB can be used to form images of polycrystalline material with markedly increased grain contrast /3/.In the present paper we report that these techniques have been transferred onto an ultra-high vacuum SEM equipped with a field emission gun (FEG). The higher brightness of the FEG enables the spot size to be reduced markedly. The transition between the orientation of one grain and the next has been shown to be as sharp as 50nm. Shifts due to sub-grain boundaries down to ∼1° can be readily seen

The Performance of a Thermal Field Emission Gun

1975 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 146-147
Author(s):  
Dennis M. Maher ◽  
David C. Joy
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
Field Emission ◽  
Thermal Field ◽  
High Vacuum ◽  
Ultra High Vacuum ◽  
Magnetic Alignment ◽  
Stable Operation ◽  
Alignment System ◽  
Scanning Electron

Although the "cold" field emission gun has been used successfully for both transmission and scanning electron microscopy it requires ultra-high vacuum which is not obtained easily when such a gun is interfaced to a conventional microscope system. Recently, the "thermal" field emission gun (TFEG) in which the emitting tip is held at around 1700°K has been proposed as an alternative electron source for such applications. Under this condition the tip is cleaned continuously, and surface asperities are smoothed, therefore stable operation is possible in a high vacuum. In this paper we report on the build-up characteristics, current stability and brightness of a TFEG which has been interfaced to a JEOL JEM 100B microscope equipped with a scanning attachment. The gun consists of a (111) tungsten emitter set on a rhenium filament, three anodes and a two stage magnetic alignment system. The gun chamber is ion pumped to a pressure in the range 6xl0-8 to 2xl0-9 torr.

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