Chapter 4 Image Formation and Interpretation

In the SEM, high energy electrons are focused into a fine beam, which is scanned across the surface of the specimen. The beam electrons interact both elastically and inelastically with the specimen, forming the limiting interaction volume from which the various types of radiation emerge, including backscattered, secondary electrons and characteristic x-ray. A mixture of this radiation is collected by a detector, most commonly the Everhart-Thornley scintillator-photomultiplier detector, and the resulting signal is amplified and displayed on a cathode ray tube or television screen scanning in synchronous with the scan on the specimen. In order to study more than a single location and eventually construct an image, the beam must be moved from place to place by means of a scanning system, as illustrated in Fig. 4.1.

Scanning action is usually accomplished by energizing electronmagnetic coils arranged in sets consisting of two pairs, one pair each for deflection X and Y directions. Scanning action is produced by altering the strength of the current in the scan coils as a function of time, so that the beam is moved through a sequence of positions on the specimen (e.g., locations 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. in Fig. 4.1). In an analog scanning system, the beam is moved continuously, with a rapid scan along the X-axis (the line scan), and a slow scan, typically at 1/500 of the line rate, at right angle along the Y-axis (the frame scan). The image is constructed on a cathode ray tube (CRT) scanning in synch with the scan of the specimen, controlled by the same scan generator. The signal derived from one of the detectors is amplified and used to control the brightness of the CRT, often with some form of signal processing applied to enhance the visibility of the features of interest.

Magnification
The magnification of the SEM image is defined by the ratio of the length of the scan on the CRT and the length of the scan on the specimen. M = LCRT/Lspec This means that SEM magnification can be changed by adjusting the length of the scan on the specimen corresponding to a constant length of scan on the CRT. Table 4.1 gives the size of the area sampled on the specimen as a function of magnification.

When the SEM is used to survey a specimen to determine its significant features, a combination of both low-magnification and high-magnification imaging should be used.

Important Point: Zoom Capability

Magnification on the SEM depends only on the excitation of the scan coils and not on the excitation of the objective lens, which determines the focus of the beam. Thus, once the objective lens is adjusted in strength to focus the image at high magnification, lower magnifications of the same region remain in focus as the scan strength is increased to scan a larger area. This zoom magnification feature is very useful for rapid surveying of the specimen, as shown in Fig. 4.6. The image does not rotate as the magnification is changed. This is different from the situation when the working distance is changed. A relative rotation of the image occurs if the working distance (the pole-piece-tospecimen distance) is changed. In this case, the objective lens strength must be altered to focus the beam at the new working distance.

Absolute Value of the Magnification

If accurate measurements are to be made, the magnification should be verified by means of an external standard. Calibrated gratings with known spacing provide suitable standards. Standard Reference Materials (SRM) 484, available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is a stage micrometer consisting of electrodeposited layers (nominal spacing 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, 50 m) of nickel and gold. This SRM permits image magnification calibration to an accuracy of 5% at the micrometer scale.

Depth of Field (Focus)

The large depth of field in SEM images is one of the big advantages of the SEM, in addition to its high resolution. To calculate the depth of focus, we must know at what distance above and below the plane of optimum focus the beam has broadened to a noticeable size. A practical expression for the depth of focus is given by: D (mm) 0.2/M (1) Where D is the depth of focus, is the beam divergence, as defined by the semi-cone angle, , and M is the magnification. Equation (1) indicates that to increase the depth of focus D, the operator can choose to reduce either the magnification M or the divergence .

The Divergence Causes the Beam to Broaden above and below the Plane of Optimum Focus

Note the strong focusing action as electrons are repelled by the negative field lines around the grid cap. This focusing action forces the electrons to a crossover of diameter do and divergence angle o between the grid cap and the anode.

 Changing the magnification is usually not generally an option. This leaves the divergence as the adjustable parameter. The divergence is adjusted by the selection of the final aperture radius, RAP and the working distance Dw. = RAP / Dw D (mm) 0.2/M

A typical set of final aperture size, specified by the diameter, are 100 m, 200 m, and 600 m, and a typical working distance is 10 mm, with a possible increase to 50 mm or more in some instruments, depending on the sample stage.

Images with Different Depth of Focus Obtained by Varying the Aperture Size and the Working Distance

Detectors
In order to form an image in the SEM, an appropriate detector must be employed to convert the radiation of interest that leaves the specimen into an electrical signal for manipulation and display by signal processing electronics. In general, the SEM detector for imaging is the type designed to collect backscattered and secondary electrons:
(1) Backscattered electrons: are beam electrons which escape the specimen as a result of multiple elastic scattering and have an energy distribution 0 EBSE Eo, with the energy distribution peaking in the range 0.8-0.9Eo for targets of

Everhart Thornley Detector

The electron detector most commonly used in SEM is the combined secondary/backscattered-electron detector developed by Everhart and Thornley (E-T) (1960). Because of its efficient collection of secondary electrons, the E-T detector is often mistakenly considered only a secondary-electron detector. Detection principle: An energetic electron strikes the scintillator material and interacts with the scintillator to produce photons that are conducted by total internal reflection in a light guide to a photomultiplier. Since it is now in the form of light, the signal can pass through a quartz glass window, which forms a vacuuomi 4l, to the first electrode of a photomultiplier. At this photocathode, the photon flux is converted back into an electron current, and the electrons are accelerated onto the successive electrodes of the photomultiplier, producing a cascade of electrons.

Bias the Detector

Negative Bias:
When the E-T detector is biased negatively, only backscattered electrons are detected. All secondary electrons are rejected. The E-T detector for the direct collection of backscattered electrons is illustrated in Fig. 4.17. Those high-energy backscattered electrons which leave the specimen with motion directly toward the face of the scintillator are collected. All other backscattered electrons emitted from the specimen are lost.

Positive Bias:
The positively biased E-T detector behaves in a profoundly different manner. The direct effect of the positive bias is to permit secondary electrons to enter the Faraday cage for subsequent acceleration by the bias on the scintillator. In addition to those secondaries emitted from the specimen into the solid angle of collection of the E-T detector, the attractive positive bias acts to deflect the trajectories of secondaries emitted from the specimen over a much wider range of solid angle into the detector, as shown in Fig. 4. 20.

The vast majority of backscattered electrons follow trajectories which miss direct collection by the E-T detector. These trajectories do cause the backscattered electrons to strike the pole-piece and the specimen chamber walls, where they cause the emission of secondary electrons, the SEIII component.