Low-voltage SEM contrasts of steel surface studied by observations and electron trajectory simulations for GEMINI...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful tool for observing the surface of materials. Modern SEM systems have multiple detectors with different geometries. Consequently, the SEM image contrast depends on the instrument and experimental conditions even for the same sample. Understanding the SEM imaging mechanism is necessary to clarify SEM contrast. In this paper, low-voltage (LV)-SEM image contrast is investigated by comparing LV-SEM images and electron trajectory simulation results. Surface observations of oxides on a steel surface, positive charging contrast and topographic contrast in the image systematically changed with the working distance (WD). The electron trajectory simulation revealed the sharing of emitted electrons by the in-lens and Everhart-Thornley detectors, and systematic changes in the electron sharing caused by changes in WD. The image contrast was reasonably explained by the kinetic energy and take-off angle (acceptance plots) of the detected electrons derived by the electron trajectory simulations. This approach is essential to understanding the SEM image contrast obtained by SEM systems with multiple detectors. Thorough image simulations based on acceptance plots are required in future work.