High resolution, low-voltage probes from a field emission source close to the target plane

Author(s):  
M. A. McCord
Author(s):  
T. Miyokawa ◽  
S. Norioka ◽  
S. Goto

Field emission SEMs (FE-SEMs) are becoming popular due to their high resolution needs. In the field of semiconductor product, it is demanded to use the low accelerating voltage FE-SEM to avoid the electron irradiation damage and the electron charging up on samples. However the accelerating voltage of usual SEM with FE-gun is limited until 1 kV, which is not enough small for the present demands, because the virtual source goes far from the tip in lower accelerating voltages. This virtual source position depends on the shape of the electrostatic lens. So, we investigated several types of electrostatic lenses to be applicable to the lower accelerating voltage. In the result, it is found a field emission gun with a conical anode is effectively applied for a wide range of low accelerating voltages.A field emission gun usually consists of a field emission tip (cold cathode) and the Butler type electrostatic lens.


Author(s):  
A. V. Crewe ◽  
J. Wall ◽  
L. M. Welter

A scanning microscope using a field emission source has been described elsewhere. This microscope has now been improved by replacing the single magnetic lens with a high quality lens of the type described by Ruska. This lens has a focal length of 1 mm and a spherical aberration coefficient of 0.5 mm. The final spot size, and therefore the microscope resolution, is limited by the aberration of this lens to about 6 Å.The lens has been constructed very carefully, maintaining a tolerance of + 1 μ on all critical surfaces. The gun is prealigned on the lens to form a compact unit. The only mechanical adjustments are those which control the specimen and the tip positions. The microscope can be used in two modes. With the lens off and the gun focused on the specimen, the resolution is 250 Å over an undistorted field of view of 2 mm. With the lens on,the resolution is 20 Å or better over a field of view of 40 microns. The magnification can be accurately varied by attenuating the raster current.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 814-815
Author(s):  
E.F. Osten ◽  
M.S. Smith

We are using the term "Industrial Polymers" to refer to polymers [plastics] that are produced by the ton or (in the case of films) by the mile. For example, in descending order of world-wide use (tonnage), the top eight of these polymers are polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), styrene polymers (including polystyrene - PS, and acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene/ styrene-acrylonitrile - ABS/SAN), polyesters (PETP), polyurethane (PU), phenolics and aminoplastics.Industrial polymers, which have been produced by the millions of tons for the last five decades and are of obvious social and economic importance, have been exhaustively characterized. Structural features which affect physical properties and indicate process variables have been studied by many techniques other than microscopy (x-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, rheology, chromatographies, etc.). Microscopy techniques for polymer characterization have been well documented. Our motivation to apply field emission (high resolution) scanning electron microscopy to the study of polymers is: (1) The application of low voltage, high resolution SEM to biological materials is well characterized.


2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heide Schatten ◽  
L. David Sibley ◽  
Hans Ris

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is representative of a large group of parasites within the phylum Apicomplexa, which share a highly unusual motility system that is crucial for locomotion and active host cell invasion. Despite the importance of motility in the pathology of these unicellular organisms, the motor mechanisms for locomotion remain uncertain, largely because only limited data exist about composition and organization of the cytoskeleton. By using cytoskeleton stabilizing protocols on membrane-extracted parasites and novel imaging with high-resolution low-voltage field emission scanning electron microscopy (LVFESEM), we were able to visualize for the first time a network of actin-sized filaments just below the cell membrane. A complex cytoskeletal network remained after removing the actin-sized fibers with cytochalasin D, revealing longitudinally arranged, subpellicular microtubules and intermediate-sized fibers of 10 nm, which, in stereo images, are seen both above and below the microtubules. These approaches open new possibilities to characterize more fully the largely unexplored and unconventional cytoskeletal motility complex in apicomplexan parasites.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 260-261
Author(s):  
J. Liu

High-resolution secondary electron (SE) imaging was first demonstrated at 100 kV in the STEM a decade ago. High-resolution SE imaging is now routinely obtainable in field-emission SEMs. Although nanometer-scale surface features can be examined at low incident beam voltages we still do not fully understand the factors that affect the contrast of low voltage SE images. At high incident beam voltages, SE1 (SEs generated by the incident probe) and SE2 (SEs generated by backscattered electrons at the sample surface) can be spatially separated. SE1 carries high-resolution detail while SE2 contributes to background. At low incident beam voltages, however, the interaction volume of the incident electrons shrinks rapidly with decreasing incident beam voltage. Thus, both the SE1 and SE2 signals carry high-resolution information. At low incident beam voltages, SE3 (SEs generated by backscattered electrons impinging on the sample chamber, pole pieces and etc.) also carries high-resolution detail and contributes significantly to the collected signal, especially for high atomic number materials and at short working distances.


Author(s):  
A. V. Crewe ◽  
J. Wall

We have previously reported on the development of a scanning microscope with a resolution of 20 Å. This instrument has now been improved so that the current point resolution is about 5 Å at 18 Kv.The microscope consists of a field emission gun followed by a single objective lens (see Fig. 1). The gun produces an image (real or virtual) of the field emission source which is then demagnified by the lens. The focal length of this lens has been shortened from 1 mm to 0.6 mm to produce a second beam crossover at the exit of the lens.


Author(s):  
Stanley L. Erlandsen ◽  
Carol L. Wells ◽  
Stephen B. Olmsted ◽  
ArDean Leith ◽  
Michael Marko

Extraction of quantitative information on surface topography in SEM can.be accomplished with, stereoscopic visual parallaxes. This method has received little attention in the last decade and to our knowledge has not been applied to high resolution secondary or backscatter electron images from field emission SEM. The STERECON system was developed for 3-D reconstruction of cells from stereo images obtained by high voltage EM. The present study describes the application of STERECON to quantitative determination of volume, surface area, and linear distance of topographical features in high resolution SEM.Trophozoites of the free-living protozoan, Hexamita inflata, and two bacterial species (Proteus mirabilus and Enterococcus faecalis) were fixed in 2.5-3.0% glutaraldehyde, dehydrated in ethanol, critical point dried in CO2, and coated with about 1 nm of platinum before examination at low kV (<4.0) in a Hitachi S-900 field emission SEM equipped with secondary (Se) and backscatter (YAG scintillator) detectors and photographed on Polaroid type 52 film using a stereo tilt of 8°.


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