Assignment 1

Submitted by
Mohammad Arshad Jamal
(2023mmz0004)

1. How are secondary electrons produced?

Answer: -
Electrons produced by the electron gun in SEM would have a very high speed and energy. The
electron when incident on the specimen and would interact with the atoms in the specimen. When
these electrons collide with the electrons in the atomic shell they lose a little bit of their energy.
This kind of collision is called inelastic collision. When the electron would collide with the electron
in the shell it would cause the electron to break away from the atom, losing its energy in the
process. This energy lost is equal to the attractive forces between the nucleus (positively charged)
and the electron (negatively charged). These knocked out electrons are called secondary
electrons.

Fig.1 Schematic of Secondary electron ejection (source: www.nanoscience.com)

2. What are the characteristics of secondary electrons?

Answer: -
When the high energy beam electron interacts with the sample surface it leads to the ejection of
electrons from the sample of the surface, ejected electrons are called secondary electrons.
Secondary electrons have low energy which is less than 50 eV.
Secondary electrons do not penetrate deep into the material,
It has a shallow escape depth so, they only interact close to the surface.
In SEM secondary electron gives the details about surface morphology and topography of sample.

Schematic of electron beam interaction (source: www.nanoscience.com)

3. How are secondary electrons detected?

Answer: - Secondary electrons are detected by following method-

(a). Everhart-Thornley Detector (Scintillation detector): - The secondary electrons fall on

positively charged collector after that they pass the collector and accelerated by approx.
10 kV to conductive coated scintillator. Electrons to photons are converted by scintillation
material. Metal coated quartz glass is used to guide these photons to the photocathode
of a photomultiplier here photoelectrons are produced and amplified. Generally electronic
signals are further amplified which are output of the photomultiplier. Lithium Activated
glass, P-47 Powder, plastic scintillators, YAP and YAG single crystals are some types of
scintillator materials. Everhart-Thornley Detector’s collector is negatively charged by <-
50V then secondary electrons are not collected.
 Fig.2. Everhart-Thornley Detector Schematic diagram (Source- Science of Microscopy vol .1, Springer)

(b). Solid State Detector (Semiconductor Detector): -

solid-state detectors, also known as semiconductor detectors, are also used for detecting
secondary electrons in scanning electron microscopes. It works on the principle of
electron hole pair generation. Usually silicon is used as a semiconductor material. When
a secondary electron falls on the semiconductor Material, it produces electron hole pairs
within the semiconductor. A small electrical signal is produced by interaction of electron
hole pairs. Electrical signals produced are amplified and processed by detector. Image of
the sample’s surface is produced by the processed signal.

(c). Microchannel Plate Detector (MCP): -

It has a very small and large number of parallel multiplier tubes which takes an area
approximately 25mm in diameter that's why it is a thin detector and, it enlarges only about
3.5mm working distance when put between an objective pole piece and specimen.
—It is efficient at low and high accelerating voltage.
—It can detect both SE and BSE.

4. What purpose the secondary electrons are used for?

Answer: - Secondary electrons are used for imaging purposes. It is used to capture image of the
surface morphology and topography. By analyzing the secondary electrons from different points
on the surface, high resolution images of the specimen’s microstructure can be obtained. These
images will provide detailed information about surface factors like the surface roughness, texture
and shape of the grains. Due to their higher resolution (compared to BSE) they would also be
able to capture images of crack pits, microstructure and other surface irregularities. It is often
used for qualitative analysis, as the detector used can determine the change in the signal intensity
of the secondary electron and could provide the useful information of the samples composition.
Secondary electrons can provide contrast enhancement for certain type of sample, especially for
those who have variation in surface topography, morphology and composition. By adjusting the
imaging parameters and detector settings it is possible to optimize contrast in such a manner that
only the specific region to be studied will be highlighted.

References: -
[1] Peter W. Hawkes and John C.H. Spence (2007), Science of Microscopy Volume I, Springer.
[2] Joseph I. Goldstein, Newbury, Michael, W.M. Ritchie, J. Scott, C. Joy (2017), Scanning
Electron Microscopy and X ray Microanalysis, Springer