Electron Microscopy Techniques

Introduction
Electron Microscopes are scientific
instruments that use a beam of highly
energetic electrons to examine objects on a
very fine scale.
The main advantage of Electron
Microscopy is the unusual short wavelength
of the electron beams, substituted for light
energy.
The wavelengths of about 0.005 nm
increases the resolving power of the
instrument to fractions
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Topography
• The surface features of an object or "how it looks", its texture;
direct relation between these features and materials properties
(hardness, reflectivity...etc.)

Morphology
• The shape and size of the particles making up the object; direct
relation between these structures and materials properties
(ductility, strength, reactivity...etc.)

Composition
• The elements and compounds that the object is composed of
and the relative amounts of them; direct relationship between
composition and materials properties (melting point, reactivity,
hardness...etc.)
• Crystallographic Information. How the atoms are arranged in
the object; direct relation between these arrangements and
materials properties (conductivity, electrical properties,
strength...etc.)
2
Types
There are two main electron microscopy techniques:

Transmission electron microscopy, which

essentially looks through a thin slice of a specimen.

Scanning electron microscopy, which looks at the

surface of a solid object.

3
 What is SEM

Column
SEM is designed for
direct studying of the
surfaces of solid objects Sample
Chamber

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a microscope that uses

electrons rather than light to form an image. There are many
advantages to using the SEM instead of a OM.
• SEM is a type of electron microscope that produces images of a
sample by scanning the surface with a focused beam of electrons.
• The electrons interact with atoms in the sample, producing various
signals that contain information about the sample's
surface topography and composition.
• The electron beam is scanned in a raster scan pattern, and the
beam's position is combined with the detected signal to produce an
image.
• Various types of signals are produced including secondary
electrons (SE), reflected or back-scattered
electrons (BSE), characteristic X-rays and light
(cathodoluminescence) (CL), absorbed current (specimen current)
and transmitted electrons.
• Secondary electron detectors are standard equipment in all SEMs,
but it is rare that a single machine would have detectors for all
other possible signals.
SEM general info
•Mount the sample on the
holder
•“Paint” the conductive path
 SEM General info
• Load the sample into the SEM
 SEM general info

•Vacuum pump 4
minutes
•Turn on filament
current &
accelerating voltage
•Fiddle with the
knobs
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)
Working Concept
TEM works much like a slide projector.
A projector shines a beam of light through (transmits) the slide, as
the light passes through it is affected by the structures and objects
on the slide.
These effects result in only certain parts of the light beam being
transmitted through certain parts of the slide.

This transmitted beam is then projected onto the viewing screen,

forming an enlarged image of the slide.

TEMs work the same way except that they shine a beam of
electrons (like the light) through the specimen (like the slide).

Whatever part is transmitted is projected onto a phosphor screen for

the user to see.

A more technical explanation of typical TEMs workings is as 10

follows
Working concept of TEM
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The "Virtual Source" at the top represents the electron gun,
producing a stream of monochromatic electrons.

This stream is focused to a small, thin, coherent beam by the use

of condenser lenses 1 and 2. The first lens (usually controlled by
the "spot size knob") largely determines the "spot size"; the
general size range of the final spot that strikes the sample.

The second lens (usually controlled by the "intensity or

brightness knob" actually changes the size of the spot on the
sample; changing it from a wide dispersed spot to a pinpoint
beam.

The beam is restricted by the condenser aperture (usually user

selectable), knocking out high angle electrons (those far from
the optic axis, the dotted line down the center)

The beam strikes the specimen and parts of it are transmitted

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This transmitted portion is focused by the
objective lens into an image

The image is passed down the column through the

projector lenses, being enlarged all the way.

The image strikes the phosphor image screen and

light is generated, allowing the user to see the
image

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Comparison of OM,TEM and SEM
Probe
Source of
Light source electrons
Condenser
Magnetic
lenses
Specimen
Objective

Projector Specimen
Eyepiece CRT
Cathode
Ray Tube

detector
OM TEM SEM
 Optical Microscopy (OM ) vs
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

m
radiolarian
OM SEM
Small depth of field Large depth of field
Low resolution High resolution
 Advantages of Using SEM over OM
Magnification Depth of Field Resolution
OM 4x – 1000x 15.5m – 0.19m ~ 0.2m
SEM 10x – 3000000x 4mm – 0.4m 1-10nm

The SEM has a large depth of field, which allows a large

amount of the sample to be in focus at one time and
produces an image that is a good representation of the
three-dimensional sample. The SEM also produces
images of high resolution, which means that closely
features can be examined at a high magnification.

The combination of higher magnification, larger depth of

field, greater resolution and compositional and
crystallographic information makes the SEM one of the
most heavily used instruments in research areas and
industries, especially in semiconductor industry.
 Scanning Electron Microscope
– a Totally Different Imaging Concept

• Instead of using the full-field image, a point-to-

point measurement strategy is used.
• High energy electron beam is used to excite
the specimen and the signals are collected and
analyzed so that an image can be constructed.
• The signals carry topological, chemical and
crystallographic information, respectively, of the
samples surface.
 Main Applications

• Topography
The surface features of an object and its texture
(hardness, reflectivity… etc.)
• Morphology
The shape and size of the particles making up the
object (strength, defects in IC and chips...etc.)
• Composition
The elements and compounds that the object is
composed of and the relative amounts of them
(melting point, reactivity, hardness...etc.)
• Crystallographic Information
How the grains are arranged in the object
(conductivity, electrical properties, strength...etc.)
A Look Inside the Column
Column
A more detailed look inside

<72o

e- beam Electron Gun

 - beam convergence
How an Electron Beam is Produced?

• Electron guns are used to produce a fine,

controlled beam of electrons which are then
focused at the specimen surface.

• The electron guns may either be thermionic gun

or field-emission gun
 Thermionic Emission Gun
• A tungsten filament
heated by DC to
approximately 2700K or
LaB6 rod heated to around
2000K
• A vacuum of 10-3 Pa (10-4 -
Pa for LaB6) is needed to
prevent oxidation of the
filament +
• Electrons “boil off” from
the tip of the filament
• Electrons are accelerated
by an acceleration voltage
of 1-50kV
 Field Emission Gun
• The tip of a tungsten needle is
made very sharp (radius < 0.1
m)
• The electric field at the tip is
very strong (> 107 V/cm) due
to the sharp point effect
• Electrons are pulled out from
the tip by the strong electric
field
• Ultra-high vacuum (better than
10-6 Pa) is needed to avoid ion
bombardment to the tip from
the residual gas.
• Electron probe diameter < 1
nm is possible
 Source of Electrons
Thermionic Gun E: >10MV/cm
T: ~1500oC
W

 
Filament
(5-50m)

                              (5nm)

    W and LaB6 Cold- and thermal FEG

Electron Gun Properties

Source Brightness Stability(%) Size Energy spread Vacuum
W 3X105 ~1 50m 3.0(eV) 10-5 ()
LaB6 3x106 ~2 5m 1.5 10-6
C-FEG 109 ~5 5nm 0.3 10-10
T-FEG 109 <1 20nm 0.7 10-9
Brightness – beam current density per unit solid angle