Resolution lateral

During testing a depth resolution of 50-80 micron and a lateral resolution of 20-40 micron was achieved. The spatial resolution was limited not mainly hy source or camera properties, but by the accuracy of compensation of the instrumental errors in the object movements and misalignments. According to this results a mote precision object rotation system and mote stable specimen holding can do further improvements in the space resolution of microlaminography. 

Light microscopy is of great importance for basic research, analysis in materials science and for the practical control of fabrication steps. Wlien used conventionally it serves to reveal structures of objects which are otherwise mvisible to the eye or magnifying glass, such as micrometre-sized structures of microelectronic devices on silicon wafers. The lateral resolution of the teclmique is detennined by the wavelength of tire light... 

The extension of the voxel in a radial direction gives infomiation on the lateral resolution. Since the lateral resolution has so far not been discussed in temis of the point spread function for the conventional microscope, it will be dealt with here for both conventional and confocal arrangements [13]. The radial intensity distribution in the focal plane (perpendicular to the optical axis) in the case of a conventional microscope is given by... 

This method relies on the simple principle that the flow of ions into an electrolyte-filled micropipette as it nears a surface is dependent on the distance between the sample and the mouth of the pipette [211] (figure B 1.19.40). The probe height can then be used to maintain a constant current flow (of ions) into the micropipette, and the technique fiinctions as a non-contact imaging method. Alternatively, the height can be held constant and the measured ion current used to generate the image. This latter approach has, for example, been used to probe ion flows tlirough chaimels in membranes. The lateral resolution obtainable by this method depends on the diameter of the micropipette. Values of 200 nm have been reported. 

The electron sources used in most sems are thermionic sources in which electrons are emitted from very hot filaments made of either tungsten (W) or lanthanum boride (LaB ). W sources are typically heated to ca 2500—3000 K in order to achieve an adequate electron brightness. LaB sources require lower temperatures to achieve the same brightness, although they need a better vacuum than W sources. Once created, these primary electrons are accelerated to some desired energy with an energy spread (which ultimately determines lateral resolution) on the order of ca 1.5 eV. 

Once the primary electron beam is created, it must be demagnified with condenser lenses and then focused onto the sample with objective lenses. These electron lenses are electromagnetic in nature and use electric and magnetic fields to steer the electrons. Such lenses are subject to severe spherical and chromatic aberrations. Therefore, a point primary beam source is blurred into a primary beam disk to an extent dependent on the energy and energy spread of the primary electrons. In addition, these lenses are also subject to astigmatism. AH three of these effects ultimately limit the primary beam spot size and hence, the lateral resolution achievable with sem. 

Commercially available photon tunneling microscopes have a lateral resolution of 160 nm but subnanometer vertical resolution. The nondestmctive, instantaneous 3-D viewing of a surface (no scanning) yields real-time imaging as one traverses a given sample. The sample must be a dielectric, but transparent polymer tepHcas of opaque samples can be studied. 

Sample size Lateral resolution Depth sampled... 

Destructive Vertical resolution Lateral resolution Quantification Accuracy... 

Lateral resolution Better than 0.2 nm on some instruments... 

Atomic structure and Microstructural analysis of solid materials, providing high lateral resolution... 

Detection limits Depth probed Lateral resolution... 

Light element spectroscopy for concentration, electronic, and chemical structure analysis at ultra-high lateral resolution in a TEM or STEM... 

Destructive Chemical bonding Depth profiling Quantification Accuracy Detection limits Sampling depth Lateral resolution Imaging/mapping... 

Lateral resolution Imaging/mapping Sample requirements Main use Instrument cost... 

Depth resolution Lateral resolution Sample requirements... 

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