Ominami Yusuke, Kawanishi Shinsuke, Ushiki Tatsuo, Ito Sukehiro
Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki 312-8504, Japan
Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki 312-8504, Japan.
Microscopy (Oxf). 2015 Apr;64(2):97-104. doi: 10.1093/jmicro/dfu107. Epub 2014 Dec 23.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for observing samples at ambient atmospheric pressure is introduced in this study. An additional specimen chamber with a small window is inserted in the main specimen chamber, and the window is separated with a thin membrane or diaphragm allowing electron beam propagation. Close proximity of the sample to the membrane enables the detection of back-scattered electrons sufficient for imaging. In addition to the empirical imaging data, a probability analysis of the un-scattered fraction of the incident electron beam further supports the feasibility of atmospheric SEM imaging over a controlled membrane-sample distance.
