Near Field Emission SEM

Abstract

Recent developments in electron optics enable “extreme” high-resolution Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM)s to attain subnanometer resolution using landing energies as low as 200 eV, which is essential to prevent damaging of the investigated object and minimise the interaction volume. We have also implemented low beam energies in a simplified SEM where the electron source, remote in standard SEMs, is brought within tens of nanometers to the object. This microscope, which we call the “near field emission scanning electron microscope” (NFESEM), is capable of imaging conducting surfaces with nanometer resolution using beam energies less than 60eV.