Microanalysis using secondary electrons in scanning electron microscopy

A recent study of secondary electron (SE) spectra in an Auger spectrometer demonstrated unique features indicative of the chemical nature of the tested material. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) naturally generates SEs; therefore, in this paper, we combine the concept of using differential voltage contrast (DVC) with SE spectroscopy to identify the chemical nature of a material. It is demonstrated that this method reveals the uniqueness of electron energy distribution in the conduction band of a solid or, what is the same, the uniqueness of a build-up of the outer electron shell system, and avoids errors due to the changes in the angular distribution or yield of the SE in the SEM. A theory of this new microanalytical method is developed. The experimental limitations of the SEM for this type of study are examined as well.