Dr. Mukesh Kumar: Department of Physics IIT Ropar Office: 2 Floor, #206 Ph. No.: 01881-24-2263 Email

PHL 552
Dr. Mukesh Kumar
Department of Physics
IIT Ropar
Office: 2nd floor, #206
Ph. No.: 01881-24-2263
Email: mkumar@iitrpr.ac.in
Optical imaging
Effective wavelength of white light 550nm.

Highest numerical aperture ~ 1.6
Resolving Power = 0.61
Substituting values
0.2mm 19th Century
Other alternatives?????
 EM radiations with lower wavelengths exist e.g. X-rays.

 But focusing them is not easy.
 Instead of photons one can use electrons. Lead to the discovery
Electron microscope.
de Broglie’s Principle
Material Particles e.g. protons, electrons etc. too have an associated wavelength (λ)
h: Planck’s constant
λ = h/p p: momentum of particle
An electron is accelerated through a potential of ‘V’ volts, then
So, two dimensional magnified images of an object‘s surface can easily be

generated with a magnification ~ 1000X by an optical microscope, and
as large as 100,000X by an electron microscope.
Optical microscope and SEM
Award winning SEM images
Scanning electron microscopy
Electron gun
 The electron gun produces a source of electrons in an energy range typically 1-40kV.
The conventional electron gun (triode) has three components, a hot wire (called the
filament or cathode [- ve] or electron emitter), a Wehnelt (grid) cap [-ve], and an
anode [+ ve]
 The hole in the anode allows a fraction of the electrons to continue down the
column through the lenses to produce a smaller, more cohesive beam
 Two important parameters for any electron gun are the amount of current
produced and the current stability. At the saturation point the beam is most
stable
Condenser and objective lens
 The purpose of a lens is to change the path of the rays in a desired direction
 Since electrons are charged particles and they can be bent in a magnetic field
 These produce a focal length which can be changed by varying the current through the
coil. They are called electromagnetic lenses
 Under the influence of a magnetic field, electrons assume a helical path, spiralling
down the column
 There are two lens, condenser lens and objective lens
 Condenser lens: The condenser lens converges the cone of the electron beam to a spot
below it
 Objective lens: converged back again by the objective lens and down onto the sample
Condenser and objective lens
 This initial convergence can be at different heights, that is, close to the lens, or
further away
 The closer it is to the lens, the smaller the spot diameter at the point of
convergence. The further away, the larger the diameter of this point
 So the condenser lens current controls this initial spot size and is referred to as
the spot size control
 The objective lens also has some influence over the diameter of the spot size of the
electron beam on the specimen surface. But its main role is in focusing the beam
onto the sample
 A focused beam produces a smaller spot on the surface than an under or over-
focused beam
Aperture
 The objective aperture arm fits above the objective lens in the SEM. It is a metal
rod that holds a thin plate of metal containing four holes
 Over this fits a much thinner rectangle of metal with holes of different sizes. By
moving the arm in and out different sized holes can be put into the beam path
 The aperture stops electrons that are off-axis or off-energy from progressing down
the column. It can also narrow the beam below the aperture, depending on the
size of the hole selected
 A large aperture is chosen for low magnification imaging to increase signal and
for BSE and microanalysis work
Electron-solid interaction
Secondary and back scattered electron imaging
 Secondary Electrons produced through inelastic scattering that results in the

ejection of loosely bound electrons from the specimen. Secondary electrons have
energies from  2-50 eV
 The low energy of these electrons allows them to be collected easily. This is
achieved by placing a positively biased grill on the front of the SE detector,
which is positioned off to one side of the specimen
 Shallow escape depth (~2nm), information of specimen surface only
 BSE
 Elastically and inelastically scattered primary electrons

 > 50% primary electron energy
Yield of secondary electron emission
 Average number of secondary electrons produced per incident electron, 0.1-10
 Strongly dependent on material, surface structure, angle of incidence, energy of
incident electron
 Large at specimen edge due to edge effect contrast at edge
 Larger for inclined incidence as volume
 SE yield sensitive to surface detail
Secondary electron imaging
 The major influence on SE signal-generation is the shape (topography) of the
specimen surface. Secondary electrons provide particularly good edge detail. Edges
(and often pointy parts) look brighter than the rest of the image because they
produce more electrons
 To increase the yield of SE emitted from the specimen, heavy metals such as gold or
platinum are routinely used to coat specimens with conducting layer
 An extremely thin layer is applied (10 nm). This coating is applied for two main
reasons: (1) Non-conductive specimens are often coated to reduce
surface charging that can block the path of SE and cause distortion of signal level
and image form; and (2) Low atomic number (Z) specimens (e.g. biological samples)
are coated to provide a surface layer that produces a higher SE yield than the
specimen material
 Electrons emitted from a surface that faces away from the detector or which is
blocked by the topography of the specimen, will appear darker than surfaces that
face towards the detector
 Another mechanism to increase SE contrast in an image is to tilt the sample so that
it is at an angle to the probe (typically 30 to 60°). As a result of tilting, more SE are
generated per unit of projected specimen area and this enhances contrast by
making the distribution of light and dark areas more pronounced
Backscattered electron
 Backscattered (BS) electrons are high-energy electrons (>50 eV) from the primary
incident beam that are ejected back out from the sample. These BSE are used to
produce a different kind of image. Such an image uses contrast to tell us about the
average atomic number of the sample
 For example, a grain of sand that is made up of a titanium mineral looks whiter than a
grain made of a silicon material (Ti versus Si)
 The backscattered electron has an energy up to the incident beam energy and is
usually very near that energy. The greater energy of BSE, compared with SE, means
that BSE produced from deeper within the interaction volume are able to escape from
the sample and be collected by the BSE detector: lower resolution than SE images
 For non-conducting sample carbon can be coated (a low atomic number material) to
enhance conductivity without obscuring the compositional detail from below
Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDXA)
 The lithium-drifted silicon crystal is mounted on a cold finger connected

to a liquid-nitrogen reservoir stored in the Dewar
 Low temperature is needed to limit the mobility of the lithium ions initially
introduced in the silicon crystal and to reduce the noise
 When x-ray photons are captured by the detection crystal they create
electron-hole pairs. These electron-hole pairs are formed charge pulse
by the applied bias and they are further converted to voltage pulse by a
charge-to-voltage converter (preamplifier)
Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDXA)
Elemental mapping
Thank You

Dr. Mukesh Kumar: Department of Physics IIT Ropar Office: 2 Floor, #206 Ph. No.: 01881-24-2263 Email

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PHL 552

Dr. Mukesh Kumar

Effective wavelength of white light 550nm.

Resolving Power = 0.61

0.2mm 19th Century

 EM radiations with lower wavelengths exist e.g. X-rays.

An electron is accelerated through a potential of ‘V’ volts, then

So, two dimensional magnified images of an object‘s surface can easily be

 Secondary Electrons produced through inelastic scattering that results in the

 Elastically and inelastically scattered primary electrons

 The lithium-drifted silicon crystal is mounted on a cold finger connected

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