Name - Nandini Matkar Entry Number - 2020MMB1349

Course Name - Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis Course Code - MM505

Assignment - 2

1. How are backscattered electrons produced?

Backscattered electrons (BSEs) are electrons with high energy. They are produced due to the elastic
scattering of primary beam electrons with the atom nuclei. They are known as backscattered electrons as
they come back out of the sample. [1] [2]

Diagram 1 - Primary electron producing backscattered electron

When the primary beam hits the sample, its electrons are retarded due to the electro-magnetic field of the
nuclei of the atoms of the sample. As electrons are negatively charged, they are attracted to the nucleus
which is positively charged. If the scattering angle is greater than 180°, the electrons circle around the
nucleus instead of getting attracted to it. And after circling round the nucleus the electrons come out of the
sample without losing their speed. This is how the electrons’ paths are changed and backscattered
electrons are produced. [1] [2] [3]

2. What are the characteristics of backscattered electrons (BSE)?

1. BSEs travel in straight lines due to their fast speed. [2]

2. They come back out of the sample. [2]
3. Energy of BSEs can reach up to the energy of incident beam. [4]
4. Location of peak in the energy spectrum of BSE depends on the atomic number of sample
material. [4]
 Diagram 2 - Energy (relative to the incident beam energy) spectrum of BSE for different materials

5. BSEs come out from the top of the sample making a 180° circle. [4]
6. BSEs have much higher energy than Secondary Electrons (SE), therefore they emerge from
deeper locations within the sample. Thus the resolution of BSE images is less than SE images. [5]
7. BSEs emission is directly proportional to the atomic number of sample material. Higher the
atomic number more BSEs are ejected. [6]
8. Escape-depth of BSE is up to 0.5-1 micrometer. [6]

Diagram 3 - Escape depth of BSEs

3. How do backscattered electrons get detected?

Diagram 4 - Solid-state (semiconductor) detector

Backscattered electrons (BSEs) are detected using detectors made of semiconductor materials like silicon.
As BSEs have similar energy to that of incident electrons, the BSE detector is kept very near to the
incident beam axis. It is placed right above the sample.
The principle of semiconductor detectors is based on the generation of electron-hole pair semiconductor
by incident BSEs.
When BSEs hit the detectors, they use their energy to excite the electrons of semiconductor material and
an electron-hole pair is created. The amount of energy needed to excite silicon material’s electrons is ~3.6
eV. The number of electron-hole pairs created is directly proportional to the energy of BSEs.
After the creation of electron-hole pairs, the free electrons and pairs are separated before they recombine.
This process generates a current which is measured by electronic circuits and converted into an image.
Solid-State detector is often used as BSE detector. [1] [6] [7]

4. What are the backscattered electrons used for?

1. As the accelerating voltage used in BSE imaging is reduced, the interaction volume decreases.
This allows detection and characterization of nanosized objects in the sample. [9]
2. BSEs emitted depend on the atomic number of sample materials. Therefore, BSE image provides
contrast based on atomic composition of sample materials. This helps to analyse elemental
distribution and identification of specific elements in the sample. [9]
3. BSE image is used to gain topographical information like surface morphology and grain
boundaries of the sample. [9]
4. BSE image is used to know particle size, shape and distribution in the sample. It is used to study
nanomaterials and composites. [9]
5. BSE image shows crystallographic contrast in crystalline materials by adjusting the working
distance and detecting single elastic scattered electrons. This helps to study grain structures, twins
and residual stresses. [9]
6. BSE image helps to create 3D surface reconstruction. This is done by combining information
from different quadrants of BSE detector. [9]
7. BSEs are used for electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). It is a SEM technique used to study
the crystallographic structure of materials. [10]

References -
[1] https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/materials/backscattered-electrons-in-sem-imaging/
[2]
https://www.mse.iastate.edu/research/microscopy/how-does-the-sem-work/high-school/how-the-sem-works/backscattered-electro
ns/
[3] http://web.iyte.edu.tr/~serifeyalcin/lectures/chem502/L8.pdf
[4] https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/do/10.1002/micro.276/full/ia4ab233b6eeb85f250ccd6b38bbf1db1.pdf
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_electron_microscope
[6] https://emb-iitk.vlabs.ac.in/exp/sem-basics/theory.html
[7]
https://www.thermofisher.com/in/en/home/global/forms/industrial/backscattered-electrons-sem.html#:~:text=But%20how%20are
%20the%20backscattered,as%20shown%20in%20Figure%202
[8]
https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/materials/backscattered-electrons-in-sem-imaging/#:~:text=Backscattered%20electrons%20a
re%20used%20to,needed%20to%20advance%20their%20research.
[9]
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298650487_The_Usage_of_Backscattered_Electrons_in_Scanning_Electron_Microsco
py
[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_backscatter_diffraction#:~:text=Electron%20backscatter%20diffraction%20(EBSD)%20is
,and%20a%20low%2Dlight%20camera.