Advanced detector signal acquisition and electron beam scanning for high resolution SEM imaging

William C. Lenthe, Jean Charles Stinville, McLean P. Echlin, Zhe Chen, Samantha Daly, Tresa M. Pollock

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The advancement of materials science at the mesoscale requires improvements in both sampling volumes/areas and spatial resolution in order to make statistically significant measurements of microstructures that influence higher-order material properties, such as fatigue and fracture. Therefore, SEM-based techniques have become desirable due to improvements in imaging resolution, large sample handling capability, and flexibility for in-situ instrumentation. By using fast sampling of SEM electron detector signals, intrinsic beam scanning defects have been identified that are related to the response time of the SEM electron beam deflectors and electron detectors. Mitigation of these beam scanning defects using detector sampling approaches and an adaptive model for settling time is shown to produce higher resolution SEM images, at faster image acquisition times, with a means to quantify the different response functions for various beam deflectors and detectors including those for electrons and ions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)93-100
Number of pages8
JournalUltramicroscopy
Volume195
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • High resolution digital image correlation
  • Image processing
  • Imaging defects
  • Scan generator
  • Scanning electron microscopy
  • SEM

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Instrumentation

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