SM-A-003-00E

JJE
EOL Application Data Sheet SEM

Backscattered Electrons
1. Backscattered electron emission
When a beam of electrons is projected onto the surface of a solid sample, many of the incident electrons will
be scattered inside of the sample, resulting in repeated collisions with the atomic core and electrons that
compose the sample, until they lose their energy inside the sample. Some of the incident electrons, however,
will be emitted from the sample surface into vacuum before losing all of their energy. These are called
backscattered electrons. Monte Carlo simulation can model this process where incident electrons, after
being projected onto the sample surface, will lose the energy inside the sample, or will be emitted as
backscattered electrons into a vacuum. Figure 1 is an example of Monte Carlo simulation where 100
electrons having a kinetic energy of 15 kV are vertically incident onto the surface of an iron (Fe) sample.
Incident
電子入射点 point

Figure 1
Example of Monte Carlo simulation

Sample:試料：鉄
Iron (100 electrons with a kinetic energy
of 15 kV are vertically incident to
iron)
Amount of Backscattered
Electron emitted from the
sample

2. Backscattered electron energy

The energy level of backscattered electrons ranges widely since some electrons are re-emitted into vacuum
immediately after they reach the sample with no energy loss while others lose their energy to varying
degrees in the scattering inside the sample. Figure 2 shows an energy distribution of emitted electrons.

Secondary
二次電子 electrons
入射電子エ
Incident electron
ネルギー energy

放 Backscattered
反射電子electrons Figure 2
出
電 Energy distribution of emitted
子 electrons
の
個
数

50 eV
Energy levels of emitted electrons（対数目盛）
放出電子のエネルギー (logarithmic scale)

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JJE
EOL Application Data Sheet SEM

3. Information acquired with backscattered electrons

(1) Compositional differences
The volume of backscattered electron emission is determined by the materials that compose a sample (average
atomic number). As Figure 3 shows, the higher the atomic number, the larger the emission volume. If the sample
surface has differences in composition, backscattered electron emission will acquire the contrast (compositional
contrast) determined by the average atomic number of a component. Thus, backscattered electron imaging
before elemental analysis with EDS allows the operator to estimate the location of high atomic number materials
on the sample. Note that the scale is non linear, making small differences in mean atomic nuclei easier to detect
at lower atomic numbers.

0.5

0.4
IO
B
/I
反
射 0.3
電 Figure 3
子
強 0.2 Atomic number vs. backscattered electron
度
intensity (emission rate)
0.1

0
0 50 90
Atomic
原子番号 number

(2) Topography
As Figure 4 shows, backscattered electrons are highly directional; they are emitted in the direction of specular
reflection with reference to the incident angle on the sample surface. As a result, backscattered electron emission
can detect subtle topographical differences that cannot be identified in secondary electron imaging. Thus,
backscattered electron emission can be used for samples polished for analysis to detect subtle differences in
depth and to determine the levels of hardness of different areas. This effect is greatly enhanced as the incident
electron voltage is reduced.
入射電子 electrons
Incident

Backscattered
反射電子 electrons
Figure 4
Backscattered electron emission angles

Sample
試料

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JEOL Ltd. http://www.jeol.com/ All Rights Reserved
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JEOL Application Data Sheet SEM

(3) Crystal orientation

Backscattered electron emission from a solid crystal sample is significantly affected by the incident angle of
electrons with reference to the crystal orientation. Backscattered electron emission from a multi crystal sample of
the same composition, where each crystal has a different tilt angle, will product a different contrast per crystal
(channeling contrast). Thus, backscattered electron emission is effective for observation of crystal grains of multi
crystal samples.

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JEOL Ltd. http://www.jeol.com/ All Rights Reserved