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Low Voltage Topographic Imaging of Biological Samples in the SEM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Paul Walther
Paul Walther*
Affiliation:
Electron Microscopy Center, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069Ulm, Germanypaul.waltlier@medizin.uni-ulm.de
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Extract

Joy and Pawley (1992) defined the limitations of spatial resolution in the SEM as follows. “The spatial resolution of the scanning electron microscope is limited by at least three factors: the diameter of the electron probe, the size and shape of the beam/specimen interaction volume with the solid for the mode of imaging employed and the Poisson statistics of the detected signal.” The interaction volume of the primary beam in the sample increases with increasing accelerating voltage (Vo), because electrons with higher energy penetrate deeper into the sample. The interaction volume affects the spatial resolution, because the electrons that finally form the image do not only originate from the impact point of the primary beam, but from the much larger interaction volume. It is not simple to understand how this affects spatial resolution, since resolution is also heavily influenced by the properties of the sample surface (the surface coating) and it is the issue of ongoing debates.

Type
Low Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 6 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2000, Microscopy Society of America 58th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 34th Annual Meeting, Microscopical Society of Canada/Societe de Microscopie de Canada 27th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 13-17, 2000 , August 2000 , pp. 760 - 761
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

References:

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