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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Serial Block-Face Scanning Electron Microscopy SBF-SEM of Biological Tissue Samples
Published on: March 26, 2021
Spatial resolution in secondary-electron microscopy
R F Egerton1, Y Zhu2
1Physics Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T1W 2E2, Canada.
Abstract:
We first review the significance of resolution and contrast in electron microscopy and the effect of the electron optics on these two quantities. We then outline the physics of the generation of secondary electrons (SEs) and their transport and emission from the surface of a specimen. Contrast and resolution are discussed for different kinds of SE imaging in scanning electron microscope (SEM) and scanning-transmission microscope instruments, with some emphasis on the observation of individual atoms and atomic columns in a thin specimen. The possibility of achieving atomic resolution from a bulk specimen at SEM energies is also considered.
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