MSE7015 Electron Microscopy

An Exciting Journey into Materials Inner Space

Chapter 2
Instrumentation

Hung-Wei (Homer) Yen

homeryen@[Link]
Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering
National Taiwan University

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Electron Microscopy
Source…………………………..

Illumination…………………..

Specimen (interaction)….
Focus…………………………….

Magnification……………….

Imaging………………………..

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 Check Points

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 Electron Source 100 μm

• Thermal Emission Gun

- Tungsten Hairpin
- LaB6 Gun
• Field Emission Gun
- Schottky FEG
- Cold FEG

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Electron Emission 100 μm

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 Thermal Emission
• Richardson Law for the current density (j):
𝜑
𝑗 = A𝑇 exp[− ]
𝑘𝑇
T: temperature
A: Richardson’s constant
φ: work function
k: Boltzmann constant

• Tungsten(W)
• LaB6 single crystal
- higher brightness
- smaller energy spread Owen Willans Richardson
- longer lifetime Nobel Prize in 1928

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Schottky Effect
• Schottky effect gives a field suppression:
∆𝜑 = 𝑒 𝐸/4𝜋𝜖 = 𝑐𝐸, 𝑐~1.44 × 10 𝑒𝑉 𝑉/𝑚

• Hence, the emission current can be calculated by

𝜑 − ∆𝜑
𝑗 = A𝑇 exp[− ]
𝑘𝑇

when using a Schottky emitter

(Field-Assisted Thermal Emission)

Walter Hermann Schottky

(1886-1976)

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 Electron Emission 100 μm

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Uncertainty Principle & Tunneling

• The more precisely the position is determined, the less
precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice
versa: Δp • Δx ≈ ħ/2
• Werner Karl Heisenberg, uncertainty paper in 1927
Uncertainty in momentum corresponds to the barrier height
(φ, work function):(2mφ)1/2
• If uncertainty in position: Δx ≈ ħ/2(2mφ)1/2 is approximately
the barrier width w = φ/fe (fe = applied field), then
electrons will have a high probability of existing on either
side.

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 Field Emission
• Fowler-Nordheim Equation:
.
B(𝜑 − ∆𝜑)
𝑗 = A(𝜑 − ∆𝜑) 𝐸 exp[− ]
𝐸
A ~ 1.541 x 10-10 A/m2eV(V/m)-2
B ~ 6.831 x 109 (eV)-1.5V/m
Ralph Fowler Lothar Nordheim

• Field Emission is also called Fowler-Nordheim tunneling

• The total emission current is lower than that of thermal
emission. BUT cold FEG has higher current density that
Schottky FEG has.

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Desired Electron Beam

• Optimized Brightness
-Emission current (ie): current (A)
-Current density (j): current per unit area (A/m2)
-Brightness (B): current per unit area per unit solid angle
(A/m2 sr)
𝑖 4𝑖 4𝑗
𝐵= = =
𝜋(𝑑 ⁄2) 𝜋(𝛼 ) (𝜋𝑑 𝛼 ) 𝜋 (𝛼 )

• Decreasing gun cross-over (d0)

• Increasing emission current (ie)
• Decreasing divergence angle (α0)

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 Gun System – Thermal Emission Gun
• Characteristics
1. Gun cross-over (d0)
2. Emission current (ie)
3. Divergence angle (α0)

• Control parameters
1. Filament current
2. Bias
3. Acceleration Voltage

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Filament Current (Cathode)

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 Defective Emission

Tungsten

LaB6

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Wehnelt Bias
• Increasing Bias voltage will
(1) decrease the passing current, but
(2) decrease the cross-over .

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 Acceleration Voltage
• Advantages of higher acceleration voltage
- gun brightness increases
- wavelength decreases
- cross-section for inelastic scattering decreases
- thicker specimen remain electron transparent

• Disadvantages of higher acceleration voltage

- irradiation damage
- cross-section for inelastic scattering decreases
- costs!

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Damaged Electron Gun

Contaminations Burn down

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 Gun System - Field Emission
• Characteristics
1. Gun cross-over (d0)
2. Emission current (ie)
3. Divergence angle (α0)

• Control parameters
1. (Filament current)
2. Extraction voltage
3. Acceleration voltage

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Schottky Emitter

Source: [Link]

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 Characteristics of Electron Gun

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 Parallel Illumination

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Convergent Illumination

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 Image Formation
• Intermediate Lens:
strong for image
weak for diffraction

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 Lens
• Lorentz Force & Electromagnetic Lens

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Lens

Focal Length: 𝑓 = 𝐾( )
K = constant based on the number
of turns of lens coil wire and the
geometry of the lens.
V = acceleration voltage
i = milliamps of current put through
the coil

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 Lens

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Lens: Electron Path (Spiral)

• For electrons with higher keV, we
must use stronger lens (larger B)
to get similar ray paths.

( )
𝑟= =−

One will see this effect as he/she operates

the TEM because the image or DP rotates on
the display screen as trying to focus or if
changing magnification.

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 Lens Equation

∆𝐼 ↔ ∆𝑓

1 1 1
+ =
𝑑 𝑑 𝑓

𝑑
𝑀=
𝑑

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Focus & Defocus

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 Example: Fresnel Fringes

Focus (A) and defocus (-4,748 nm (under) in B and + 4,031 (over) nm in C) low-
resolution TEM images of a partially ordered area for a bulk PCMO sample (x =
0.32) at 90 K, acquired in a JEM-2100F with a magnetic field free focal lens.

Ref: Jooss et al. 10.1073/pnas.0702748104.

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Aperture
• General aperture is applied for
(1) Reducing the β angle
(2) Shielding the not well focused electrons.
Pt or Mo

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 Aperture: C2 Aperture

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Aperture: Misalignment

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 Objective Aperture & SAD

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Objective Aperture
• We Use single beam for diffraction contrast image.
• We Use multi beams for phase contrast image.

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 SAD Aperture

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Homer Yen | NTU Department of Materials Science & Engineering

 Deflector
• Deflectors control translation and tilting of electron beam. It
is the most frequently used function in practical operation.

• Gun deflector
Gun tilt: straight and
symmetrical illumination
Gun shift: axial illumination
• Beam deflector
Beam tilt: alignment/dark field
Beam shift: alignment/position
beam
• Image deflector
Image shift: movement of image
of diffraction pattern

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Deflector in STEM Mode

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Homer Yen | NTU Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Stigmatism

Example of C2 Lens

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Homer Yen | NTU Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Survey: Screen
• Screen is pasted with ZnS powder.
• The screen will decay under strong light or UV.
• You must notice to
(1) cover it when light on, and
(2) prevent from long exposure
under diffraction mode.

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 Detection: Charge-Coupled Device
• CCDs are metal-insulator-silicon devices that store charge
generated by light or electron beams.

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Resolution Limit from the CCD Detector

0.61λ
• Rayleigh Limit: 𝑟=
sinα

0.30λ
• Nyquist Limit: 𝐿=
sinα

• Example
- CCD with pixel size of 10 x 10 μm2
- In 200 kV TEM, the point-to-point
resolution is ~0.25nm
- Under the magnification of 20,000X,
the point-to-point distance is magnified
into ~ 5 μm (< 10 μm).
• What is the solution?
a. CCD with finer pixel size
b. zoom to 100,000X

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Homer Yen | NTU Department of Materials Science & Engineering

What is good electron microscopy

• The ability to achieve tiny spot with high
brightness and high coherence.
• The ability to achieve extremely high
resolution.
• The ability to directly interpret from electron
signals to images.

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 Coherence
• Temporal incoherence results from
the energy spreading of the
electron source: ∆𝜆 =
∆

• Spatial incoherence results from

the size of the electron source. The
effective size of coherent
illumination is defined as 𝑑 =

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Schottky FEG

LaB6

Cold FEG

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 Cold FEG: Flashing

Ref: Hitachi EM

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Resolution
• Resolution of microscope is intuitively known to be its ability
to see the details of one object.
• Resolution is defined by the minimum distance between
two points that are distinguishable under the microscope.
• Magnification doesn’t improve resolution.
• Besides the diffraction limit, there are aberrations in
electron microscopes due to gun, lens, aperture, and
misalignment.

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 Chromatic Aberration
• This term is related to the
‘color’ (i.e., frequency,
wavelength, or energy) of the
electrons.
• It results from
1. The nature of gun
2. The electron-specimen interaction
• The chromatic aberration is
defined by:
∆𝐸
𝛿 =𝐶 𝛽
𝐸

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Spherical Aberration
• Electrons near the edge of the lens
are bent more than those near the
center because the magnetic field
between the lens pole pieces is not
uniform.
• The spherical aberration is defined
by:
𝛿 =𝐶𝛽
• How can we move the image of
least confusion to the image
plane? Answer: under-focus
(counter-clockwise)

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 Cs Corrector

STEM Mode

TEM Mode

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 Fast Fourier Transformation

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Resource: ER-C

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 Astigmatism
• Astigmatism occurs when the
electrons sense a non-uniform
magnetic field as they spiral round
the optic axis.
1. Imperfect design in lens system
2. Defects of aperture
• These effects in general described
by:
𝛿 = ∆𝑓𝛽
• This can be corrected by stigmators.

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Diffraction Aberration
• All lens aberration quickly increase with β.
• Following a particular ray, β decreases with increasing
magnification from lens to lens.
• The largest angles β occur in the region of the objective
lens.
Obj Lens Determine the quality of the microscope!
• Choosing the smallest aperture improves resolution. NO!!!
• There is diffraction limit:
0.61𝜆
𝛿 =𝛿 =
𝛽

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 Resolution of Electron Microscope
• That is, aberration limits the resolution by:
𝛿= 𝛿 +𝛿 +𝛿

if chromatic aberration is neglected.

• Optimum aperture: 𝛽∗ ~0.77 𝜆/𝐶 /

/
• Optimum resolution: 𝛿 ∗ ~0.91𝐶 𝜆 /

Homer Yen | NTU Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Any Question?
(homeryen@[Link])

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