The electron source is the most important component of the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) since it is this which will determine the overall performance of the machine. The gun performance can be described in terms of quantities such as its brightness, its source size, its energy spread, and its stability and, depending on the chosen application, any of these factors may be the most significant one. The task of the electron gun in a SEM is, in fact, particularly difficult because of the very wide range of operational parameters that may be required, e.g. a variation in probe size of from a few angstroms to a few microns, and a probe current which may go from less than a pico-amp. to more than a microamp. This wide range of operating parameters makes the choice of the optimum source for scanning microscopy a difficult decision.