Imaging electron microscopes

Schematic scale and the corresponding instruments or imaging devices, which create the visual information, are presented in Figure 13.10. This could be named as the quest for the resolution. Only the small fraction of the scale is directly observable by the human eye. In all other cases, the effects or the interactions are used to create the visual information. Even the optical microscope use photon interactions with material to create the image. Electron microscopes, transmission and scanning, use different kinds of electron interactions with material to obtain information.

Fig. Vni-3. (a) Atomic force microscope (AFM) and (b) transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of lead selenide particles grown under arachidic acid monolayers. (Pi Ref. 57.)...

ESEM environmental scanning electron microscope ESI electron spectroscopic imaging... 

The history of EM (for an overview see table Bl.17,1) can be interpreted as the development of two concepts the electron beam either illuminates a large area of tire sample ( flood-beam illumination , as in the typical transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging using a spread-out beam) or just one point, i.e. focused to the smallest spot possible, which is then scaimed across the sample (scaiming transmission electron microscopy (STEM) or scaiming electron microscopy (SEM)). In both situations the electron beam is considered as a matter wave interacting with the sample and microscopy simply studies the interaction of the scattered electrons. 

One technique that does probe the foam stmcture directly is cryomicroscopy. The foam is rapidly frozen, and the soHd stmcture is cut open and imaged with an optical or electron microscope (14). Such methods are widely appHcable and provide a direct image of the foam stmcture however, they destroy the sample and may also perturb the foam stmcture in an uncontroUed manner during the freezing. 

In contrast to the older techniques, a newer method is to use a scanning tuimeling electron microscope to deposit metal coatings in microscopic images as small as 0.001 pm. The ultimate surface metallization techniques allow deposition of metals atom by atom in controlled three-dimensional arrays. 

Microscopy is an unusual scientific discipline, involving as it does a wide variety of microscopes and techniques. All have in common the abiUty to image and enlarge tiny objects to macroscopic size for study, comparison, evaluation, and identification. Few industries or research laboratories can afford to ignore microscopy, although each may use only a small fraction of the various types. Microscopy review articles appear every two years m. Jinalytical Chemistty (1,2). Whereas the style of the Enclyclopedia employs lower case abbreviations for analytical techniques and instmments, eg, sem for scanning electron microscope, in this article capital letters will be used, eg, SEM. 

Fig. 4. Aggregate size distributions by electron microscope image analysis (D and centrifugal (Z9 sedimentations for N220 and N351 carbon blacks (8).

SPMs are simpler to operate than electron microscopes. Because the instruments can operate under ambient conditions, the set-up time can be a matter of minutes. Sample preparation is minimal. SFM does not require a conducting path, so samples can be mounted with double-stick tape. STM can use a sample holder with conducting clips, similar to that used for SEM. An image can be acquired in less than a minute in fact, movies of ten fiames per second have been demonstrated. ... 

The uniqueness and desirability of EELS is realized when it is combined with the power of a TEM or STEM to form an Analytical Electron Microscope (AEM). This combination allows the analyst to perform spatially resolved nondestructive analysis with high-resolution imaging (< 3 A). Thus, not oiJy can the analyst observe the microstructure of interest (see the TEM article) but, by virtue of the focusing ability of the incident beam in the electron microscope, he or she can simultaneously analyze a specific region of interest. Lateral spatial resolutions of regions as small as 10 A in diameter are achievable with appropriate specimens and probe-forming optics in the electron microscope. 

Figure 3 Bright-field (a) and dark-field (b) STEM images of crushed ceramic particles dispersed on a "holey" carbon film supported on an electron microscope grid (shown at the right).

The major STEM analysis modes are the imaging, diffraction, and microanalysis modes described above. Indeed, this instrument may be considered a miniature analytical chemistry laboratory inside an electron microscope. Specimens of unknown crystal structure and composition usually require a combination of two or more analysis modes for complete identification. 

The electron-optical performance of the EPMA system is indistinguishable from that of a conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM) thus, EPMA combines all of the imaging capabilities of a SEM with quantitative elemental analysis using both energy- and wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. ... 

If an incident electron beam of sufficient energy for AES is rastered over a surface in a manner similar to that in a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and if the analyzer is set to accept electrons of Auger energies characteristic of a particular element, then an elemental map or image is again obtained, similar to XPS for the Quantum 2000 (Sect. 2.1.2.5). 

In electron-optical instruments, e.g. the scanning electron microscope (SEM), the electron-probe microanalyzer (EPMA), and the transmission electron microscope there is always a wealth of signals, caused by the interaction between the primary electrons and the target, which can be used for materials characterization via imaging, diffraction, and chemical analysis. The different interaction processes for an electron-transparent crystalline specimen inside a TEM are sketched in Eig. 2.31. 

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