ACCE 355: Instrumental Analysis and Methods - II

Scanning and Transmission

Electron Microscopy

M. Mehedi Hasan Babu

Assistant Professor
Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University
 Electron Microscope
Electron Microscopes are scientific instruments that use a beam of highly energetic
electrons to examine objects on a very fine scale.

What information can be obtained from EMs?

• Topographical (surface features of an object),
• Morphological (shape and size of the particles making
up the object),
• Compositional (the elements and compounds that the
object is composed of and the relative amounts of them)
and
• Crystallographic information (how the atoms are
arranged in the object).

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
History

• In 1897 J.J Thomson discovered the electron

• In 1924 Louis deBorglie identifies wavelength for electron
• In 1929 E. Ruska have thesis on magnetic lenses
• In 1931 Knoll and Ruska built the first electron microscope. (TEM)
• In 1938 Von Borries and Ruska built the first practical electron microscope
• The first Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) debuted in 1942 with the first
commercial instruments around 1965.

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Electron-specimen interactions
When the beams of electrons hit a surface of the object two different types of
scattering are found.

1. Elastic
kinetic energy and velocity remain
same, trajectory changes.

2. Inelastic
some incident electrons will actually
collide with and displace electrons
from their orbits

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Auger electrons

• When a core electron is removed, leaving a

vacancy, an electron from a higher energy level
may fall into the vacancy, resulting in a release of
energy.

• Although most often this energy is released in the

form of an emitted Photon, the energy can also be
transferred to another electron, which is ejected
from the atom; this second ejected electron is
called an Auger electron

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Secondary and Backscattered electrons
• Secondary electrons are emitted by atoms near the surface of a sample material
when their electrons become excited and have sufficient energy to escape the
sample surface.
• Backscattered electrons are electrons resulting from the interaction of the
electrons of the primary beam with the atomic nuclei of the sample that have
reacted in a quasi-elastic manner with the atoms of the sample. As they are
results of elastic collision hence they only change the trajectory.

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Electron gun
There are three types of electron gun according to the method of emission:
1. Field emission type (FE) electron gun,
2. Schottky electron gun and,
3. Thermal electron gun.

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Electron gun
In conventional thermal electron guns,
• A positive electrical potential is applied to the anode,
and
• The filament (cathode) is heated until a stream of
electrons is produced.
• The electrons are accelerated by the positive potential
down the column, and
• Because of the negative potential of cap, all electrons
are repelled toward the optic axis.
• A collection of electrons occurs in the space between the
filament tip and cap, which is called a space charge.

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Instrumentation
• Both types of EM have an electron gun, which contains
o An electron source (a filament that produces a cloud of electrons),
o A Wehnelt cylinder (to form the beam) and
o An anode (to accelerate the beam).

• Both TEM and SEM use electromagnetic lenses to focus the beam of electrons.
Electrons travel along the magnetic field and can be focused in the same way
that light is focused using glass lenses.
• Apertures are associated with the lenses and are thin plates of molybdenum
with several small bores (usually a range of 10-300 μm in diameter). Apertures
are used in an EM to control the coherence of the beam, which affects resolution,
and the amount of contrast in the signal.

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Instrumentation

• A TEM transmits the beam of electrons through a thin sample onto a screen
or a camera/detector.
• It has a large number of lenses.
o The condenser lenses (2-4 depending on the microscope) are responsible
for the amount of illumination that reaches the sample and control beam
intensity or brightness.
o The objective lens focuses the beam of electrons onto the sample and
applies a small amount of magnification.
o The intermediate and projector lenses magnify the beam and project it
onto the camera (CCD or film) or screen to form an image.

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU

 Electron Microscope
Instrumentation

• A SEM focuses the beam of electrons into a small spot that scans across the
surface of a sample.
o The condenser lens assembles the electrons into a fine beam.
o The objective lens focuses the beam onto the sample.
o Deflection coils cause the beam to move in a rectangular X and Y
direction, producing a raster scan across the surface of the sample.
o The signal is transmitted to a computer screen.
o Reducing the area being scanned results in an increase in
magnification).

ACCE 355 – Instrumental Methods and Analysis-II ImM – ACCE,BSMRSTU