SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (SEM) &

Atomic Force Microscope(AFM)

By: VIMAL KAURANI (090170111015) DEEPAK TAURANI (090170111004) Sub: Electronics Measurements & Instrumentation laboratory

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE(SEM)

The Instrument in Brief

MENA3100

WORKING

In a typical SEM, an electron beam is thermionically emitted from an electron gun fitted with a tungsten filament cathode
The electron beam, which typically has an energy ranging from 0.5 keV to 40 keV, is focused by one or two condenser lenses to a spot about 0.4 nm to 5 nm in diameter. The beam passes through pairs of scanning coils or pairs of deflector plates in the electron column, typically in the final lens, which deflect the beam in the x and y axes so that it scans in a raster fashion (It's a systematic process of covering the area progressively, one square or line at a time.) over a rectangular area of the sample surface. The size of the interaction volume depends on the electron's landing energy, the atomic number of the specimen and the specimen's density The energy exchange between the electron beam and the sample results in the reflection of high-energy electrons by elastic scattering, emission of secondary electrons by inelastic scattering and the emission of electromagnetic radiation, each of which can be detected by specialized detectors

The beam current absorbed by the specimen can also be detected and used to create images of the distribution of specimen current. Electronic amplifiers of various types are used to amplify the signals, which are displayed as variations in brightness on a cathode ray tube.
Unlike optical and transmission electron microscopes, image magnification in the SEM is not a function of the power of the objective lens. SEMs may have condenser and objective lenses, but their function is to focus the beam to a spot, and not to image the specimen. In a SEM, magnification results from the ratio of the dimensions of the raster on the specimen and the raster on the display device. Assuming that the display screen has a fixed size, higher magnification results from reducing the size of the raster on the specimen, and vice versa

HOW DO WE GET AN IMAGE?

Electron gun
156 electrons!
MENA3100

Detector

Image

SIGNALS FROM THE SAMPLE

Incoming electrons

Secondary electrons
Auger electrons
MENA3100

Backscattered electrons

Cathodoluminescence (light) X-rays

Sample

COMPONENTS OF THE INSTRUMENT

electron gun (filament)
electromagnetic optics scan coils sample stage detectors vacuum system computer hardware and software (not trivial!!)

MENA3100

Resolution of The SEM

The spatial resolution of the SEM depends on the size of the electron spot, which in turn depends on both the wavelength of the electrons and the electron-optical system that produces the scanning beam. The resolution is also limited by the size of the interaction volume, or the extent to which the material interacts with the electron beam. The spot size and the interaction volume are both large compared to the distances between atoms, so the resolution of the SEM is not high enough to image individual atoms, as is possible in the shorter wavelength (i.e. higher energy) transmission electron microscope (TEM). The SEM has compensating advantages, though, including the ability to image a comparatively large area of the specimen; the ability to image bulk materials (not just thin films or foils); and the variety of analytical modes available for measuring the composition and properties of the specimen. Depending on the instrument, the resolution can fall somewhere between less than 1 nm and 20 nm .

AN EXAMPLE OF SEM IMAGE

SUMMARY OF SEM
The

scanning electron microscope is a versatile instrument that can be used for many purposes and can be equipped with various accessories An electron probe is scanned across the surface of the sample and detectors interpret the signal as a function of time A resolution of 1 2 nm can be obtained when operated in a high resolution setup The introduction of ESEM and the field emission gun have simplified the imaging of challenging samples

MENA3100

ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE(AFM)

The AFM is one of the foremost tools for imaging, measuring, and manipulating matter at the nanoscale.

Block Diagram of AFM

BASIC FUNCTIONING OF AFM

The AFM consists of a cantilever with a sharp tip (probe) at its end that is used to scan the specimen surface. The cantilever is typically silicon with a tip radius of curvature on the order of nanometers. When the tip is brought into proximity of a sample surface, forces between the tip and the sample lead to a deflection of the cantilever.
Typically, the deflection is measured using a laser spot reflected from the top surface of the cantilever into an array of photodiodes. Other methods that are used include optical interferometry, capacitive sensing or piezoresistive AFM cantilevers. These cantilevers are fabricated with piezoresistive elements that act as a strain gauge.

Imaging

modes

The primary modes of operation for an AFM are static mode and dynamic mode. In static mode, the cantilever is "dragged" across the surface of the sample and the contours of the surface are measured directly using the deflection of the cantilever. In the dynamic mode, the cantilever is externally oscillated at or close to its fundamental resonance frequency or a harmonic. The oscillation amplitude, phase and resonance frequency are modified by tip-sample interaction forces. These changes in oscillation with respect to the external reference oscillation provide information about the sample's characteristics.

AFM CANTILEVER DEFLECTION

MEASUREMENT

Laser light from a solid state diode is reflected off the back of the cantilever and collected by a position sensitive detector (PSD) consisting of two closely spaced photodiodes whose output signal is collected by a differential amplifier. Angular displacement of the cantilever results in one photodiode collecting more light than the other photodiode, producing an output signal (the difference between the photodiode signals normalized by their sum) which is proportional to the deflection of the cantilever

AN EXAMPLE OF AFM IMAGE

Figure shows the Atomic force microscope topographical scan of a glass surface. The micro and nano-scale features of the glass can be observed, portraying the roughness of the material

ADVANTAGES & DRAWBACKS

Advantages

AFM has several advantages over the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Unlike the electron microscope which provides a two-dimensional projection or a two-dimensional image of a sample, the AFM provides a three-dimensional surface profile

While an electron microscope needs an expensive vacuum environment for proper operation, most AFM modes can work perfectly well in ambient air or even a liquid environment. This makes it possible to study biological macromolecules and even living organisms. In principle, AFM can provide higher resolution than SEM.

Disadvantages A disadvantage of AFM compared with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is the single scan image size. In one pass, the SEM can image an area on the order of square millimetres with a depth of field on the order of millimetres, whereas the AFM can only image a maximum height on the order of 10-20 micrometres and a maximum scanning area of about 150150 micrometres. The scanning speed of an AFM is also a limitation. Traditionally, an AFM cannot scan images as fast as a SEM, requiring several minutes for a typical scan, while a SEM is capable of scanning at near real-time, although at relatively low quality.