Scanning electron microscope

and
Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Scanning electron microscope
The first true SEMs were built in the 1930s, but they did not become
commercially available for another 30 years. Currently, a number of
manufacturers produce these complex instruments.
 SEM

Scanning electron microscopy is used for inspecting

topographies of specimens at very high
magnifications using a piece of equipment called the
scanning electron microscope. SEM magnifications
can go to more than 300,000 X but most
semiconductor manufacturing applications require
magnifications of less than 3,000 X only. SEM
inspection is often used in the analysis of die/package
cracks and fracture surfaces, bond failures, and
physical defects on the die or package surface.
Components of the
instrument

electron gun (filament)

electromagnetic optics
scan coils
sample stage
detectors
vacuum system
computer hardware and
software (not trivial!!)
How do we get an image?
Electron gun

156
288
electrons!
electrons!

Detector

Image
 HOW THE SEM WORKS?
The SEM uses electrons instead of light to form an

image.

A beam of electrons is produced at the top of the

microscope by heating of a metallic filament.

The electron beam follows a vertical path through

the column of the microscope. It makes its way through

electromagnetic lenses which focus and direct the
beam down towards the sample.

Once it hits the sample, other electrons

( backscattered or secondary) are ejected from the

sample. Detectors collect the secondary or
backscattered electrons, and convert them to a signal
that is sent to a viewing screen similar to the one in an
ordinary television, producing an image.
 To produce the SEM image, the electron beam
is swept across the area being inspected,
producing many such signals. These signals
are then amplified, analyzed, and translated
into images of the topography being
inspected. Finally, the image is shown on a
CRT.
SEMs are widely used in the analysis of
integrated circuits, where challenging size
frontiers are encountered.
SEM operation is generally based on
thermionic emission from an electron gun that
has a tungsten filament cathode. Tungsten is
suitable because it has a high melting point
and low vapor pressure.
Condenser lenses and scanning coils or
deflector plates focus the 0.2 keV to 40 keV
electron beam onto the sample, covering an
area under 5 nm in diameter.
 A SEM produces a beam of
electrons with an electron gun.
The electron beam follows a
path through the microscope
within a vacuum, through
electromagnetic fields and
lenses, which focus it down
toward the sample. Once the
beam hits the sample, electrons
and X-rays are ejected from the
sample. Detectors collect these
X-rays, backscattered electrons,
and secondary electrons and
convert them into a signal that
goes to a screen similar to a
television screen.
 Scanning tunneling Microscopy (STM)
Invented by Binnig and Rohrer at IBM in 1981 (Nobel Prize in Physics
in 1986).
 How to operate?
Raster the tip across the
surface, and using the
current as a feedback
signal.
The tip-surface
separation is controlled
to be constant by
keeping the tunneling
current at a constant
value.
The voltage necessary
to keep the tip at a
constant separation is
used to produce a
computer image of the
surface.
 Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

xyz-Piezo-Scanner
z

high voltage
y
amplifier
x

probing tip
I feedbac
k
regulator

sample

Negative feedback keeps the current constant (pA-nA) by moving the tip up and down.
Contours of constant current are recorded which correspond to constant charge
density.
 Theory and Principle
Tunneling Current
A sharp conductive tip is brought to within a few Angstroms
of the surface of a conductor (sample).
The surface is applied a bias voltage, Fermi levels shift
The wave functions of the electrons in the tip overlap those
of the sample surface
Electrons tunnel from one surface to the other of lower
potential.
 The tunneling system can be described as the
model of quantum mechanical electron tunneling
between two infinite, parallel, plane metal surfaces

EF is the Fermi level

is the wave function
of the electron
is the work function
of the metal.
Electrons tunnel
through a rectangular
barrier.
 First STM image
Binnig et al. 1982, PRL
First atomic resolution image of the Si (111) 7x7
reconstruction
STM produced images

STM image, 7 nm x 7 nm,

of a single zig-zag chain of
Cs atoms (red) on the
GaAs(110) surface (blue). *
 STM is one the most powerful imaging tools with an
unprecedented precision.

Disadvantage of STM:
1. Making atomically sharp tips remains something of a dark art!
2. External and internal vibrations from fans, pumps, machinery,
building movements, etc. are big problems.
3. UHV-STM is not easy to built and handle.
4. The STM can only scan conductive surfaces or thin nonconductive
films and small objects deposited on conductive substrates. It
does not work with nonconductive materials, such as glass, rock,
etc.
5. The spatial resolution of STM is fantastic, but the temporal
resolution is typically on the order of seconds, which prevents
STM from imaging fast kinetics of electrochemical process.
 The central concept in the STM is that of a
small conducting tip brought near to the
sample. A bias voltage is applied between
these two points and electrons proceed to
cross the vacuum between them. The amount
of tunneling current which in accordance
with Kirchhoffs Current Law can be
measured at any point in the circuit
depends upon tip position, applied voltage and
local density state of the sample. Because the
first two of these variables are known, the
third can be readily calculated as the scanning
proceeds, and this provides the basis for the
imaging.
 As may be expected, imaging at the high resolutions the STM
can produce will not be possible if there is any vibration at all, so
isolation and a rigid frame are essential just to get started.
Magnetic levitation has been used in the past, but at present the
usual strategy is mechanical or gas spring mounting.
In addition to imaging, the STM tip is used to actually
manipulate objects on an atomic scale. There is great debate over
where this will all go. Because STM equipment is on the cutting
edge of technology, it has become a focus of interest. Proponents
of nanotechnology are enthusiastic while the doomsday
community see a downside.
Difference between the scanning
electron microscope
and
scanning tunneling microscope
 The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is capable of imaging
an object with a resolution of better than one nanometer. To put
that in perspective, a meter is to the size of the earth as a
nanometer is to the size of a marble. A nanometer, at the small
limit of nanotechnology by definition, is a billionth (10-9) of a
meter. A hydrogen atom is one-quarter of a nanometer in
diameter. A bacterium is 0.5 to 5 micrometers long, orders of
magnitude larger.
The scanning electron microscope is capable or rendering
images at magnifications ranging from 10X to 500,000X, 250
times the limit of the most powerful optical microscopes.
 The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) differs significantly
from the SEM. It is capable of imaging objects at ten times the
lateral resolution, to 0.1 nanometer. This is well down into the
quantum realm. Quantum mechanics is the theoretical basis for
tunneling. From a classical perspective, if a conventional object
encounters an impenetrable barrier, it will go no farther. In the
quantum domain, however, an object with minimal mass, for
example an electron, also possesses the attributes of a wave,
which enable it to cross the otherwise impenetrable barrier. This
activity is known as tunneling. It arises when electrons are at or
near the Fermi level.
 They both use the interaction of electrons with a surface to
produce an image. However, a scanning electron microscope
uses a constantly rastered beam of electrons at moderately high
accelerations to bombard the surface. Samples must be in low or
high vacuum. The image is basically of topology, faster and with
relatively low resolution. SEM generally handles rough surfaces
very well. In contrast, a scanning tunneling microscope uses
quantum tunneling to detect current variations between a rastered
sharp conductive tip and a surface. The sample can be in normal
atmosphere but best results occur for high vacuum. The image is
of surface electronic states, frequently with atomic or sub atomic
resolution. STM generally handles surface roughness very
poorly.
Thank you for your attention!