SEM Assignment

Diptaparna Biswas (09926), UG 6 th Semester, Physics Major

3.
Decreasing the spot size increases central resolution of the image but decreases the electron yield as
the probe current decreases (we can conclude this from the brightness formulae) and so the number
of electron reaching the sample is also reduced.

4.
To increase depth of focus in SEM, the working distance needs to be increased and the aperture size
should be decreased.

5.
Increase in the accelerating voltage causes the electrons to strike the sample with greater energy
and hence can penetrate deeper. This reduces the surface sensitivity and increases the x-ray yield.
Also, at high accelerating voltage, energy spread of the source becomes negligible with respect to
the accelerating voltage (relative fluctuation decreases). This in turn reduces chromatic aberration.

6.
Electron yield from surface decreases on increasing accelerating voltage since electrons having
higher energy can penetrate deeper into the sample.

7.
The yield of BSE is strongly dependent on accelerating voltage and also the atomic number of the
elements present in the sample. For elements with high atomic numbers, BSE constitutes about 70%
of the net electron yield. SE2 yield is about 3-4 times that of SE1. So, SE1 constitutes about 10% and
SE2 constitutes about 30% of total electron yield.

9.
The electrons (both SE and BSE) scattered from the sample first pass through the in-lens SE detector
and reach a grid in front of the BSE detector. The grid is kept at a negative bias to allow only high
energy BSE electrons to pass but repels the low energy SE electrons. The BSE electrons thus pass
through and fall onto the BSE detector and SE electrons gets repelled by the grid.

10.
The Everhart-Thornley (ET) detector is an important detector in SEM with large solid angle of
collection, high amplifier gain and low noise. ET detector consists of a scintillator material, on which
scattered electrons impinge, producing a light signal. The light is fed to a photomultiplier tube that
greatly amplifies the signal (about 105 times), finally producing large number of electrons from the
few electrons hitting the scintillator. To prevent deflection of the electron beam, the scintillator is
protected by a Faraday cage. ET detector can be used with positive or negative bias.
a) Positive Bias When ET detector is at a positive bias, it attracts the SE electrons over a large
solid angle and over large energy range. Hence all types of secondary electrons, i.e. SE1, SE2,
and SE3 are strongly attracted by the ET detector, which provides it very high collection

efficiency. It also has a BSE component in its accepted signal. Positively biased ET detector is
extremely useful at low beam energies as the high positive voltage attracts even very low
energy SEs emitted due to low beam intensity.
b) Negative Bias In this configuration, only BSE are detected by the detector and all SEs are
rejected. It also becomes highly selective in the angle of collection.
So, ET detector gives the best topographic contrast.

11.
The signals contributing to SE image are
a) SE1 These are produced by interaction of primary electron beam with electron in the
specimen. Specimen electrons scattered off by the primary electron beam create SE1 signal.
b) SE2 These electrons are emitted when high energy BSE scatter off loosely bound specimen
electrons when moving out of sample.
c) SE3 They are produced by BSE striking chamber walls or pole pieces and thus producing
lower energy SEs.

12.
If the aperture size is increased, the convergence angle increases if working distance is held
1

constant. Now as a function of , spherical aberration increases as 3 and diffraction error falls as .
So, an optimum aperture size must be found so that at that , sum of these two effects is minimized
in order to give disc of least confusion.

13.
Due to machining errors or prolonged use, the electromagnetic lenses focussing the electron beams
become inhomogeneous, i.e. electrons diverging from same point are focussed at two different foci
by the lens. This leads to the stretching of the electron spot and leads to bad image formation.
This can be corrected by using a stigmator, a device that applies a weak supplementary magnetic
field to make the lens appear symmetric to electron beam. X and Y direction fields are separately
adjusted to produce astigmatism free image.

14.
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1

X-Ray Photoelectron
Spectroscopy (XPS)
The probe is x-ray and
the signal is
photoelectron.
The photoelectrons
energy is analysed to
understand the
composition.

Auger Electron
Spectroscopy (AES)
The probe is energetic
electron and signal is
Auger electron.
Auger electrons energy
is analysed to determine
the composition.

Yields information about

depths of ~ 10 nm.
Depth determined by
electron mean free path.

Yields information about

depths of ~ 10 nm.
Depth determined by
electron mean free path.

Electron Probe Micro

Analysis (EPMA)
The probe is electrons
and signal is x-rays.

Energy Dispersive XRay Analysis (EDAX)

The probe is electron
and signal is x-rays.

Characteristic x-rays are

identified by wavelength
dispersive spectroscopy.
(Higher resolution than
EDAX)
Yields information about
depths of ~ 5 m. Depth
determined by primary
beam energy.

Characteristic x-rays are

identified by
wavelength dispersive
spectroscopy.
Yields information
about depths of ~ 5 m.
Depth determined by
primary beam energy.

All these methods are used to determine the elemental composition at surface of the samples.

15.
For energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX), the intensities of the characteristic x-rays corresponding
to different elements is proportional to the mass fraction of that element present in the sample.
However, the x-ray intensity generated within the sample gets modified before leaving the sample
and so this intensity change needs to be corrected to reduce error. ZAF is the matrix correction
factor which is multiplied to directly obtain intensity ratio of sample to standard, which is known as
k-ratio.
Z gives the atomic number effect, on which the ionization cross section of electron and also the
amount of BSE depend.
A gives absorption correction. Since x-rays emitted in sample can get absorbed by the sample atoms,
it leads to reduction in intensity.
F gives the fluorescence correction. Since emitted x-rays can be absorbed by sample atoms, due to
their de-excitement x-ray fluorescence can happen.

16.
Electron beam induced current (EBIC) is a technique to detect defects with extremely high resolution
in semiconductors (at the scale of ~ 50 nm). The SEM electron beam hits semiconductor surface and
generates an external current, which is measured. The measured current and the SE detector output
are combined to give an image of the semiconductors surface. Where defects are present, electronhole pairs will recombine more and hence the external current will get reduced. In this way, defects
can be detected at even ~ 10 nm resolution.