Definition
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is an instrument that uses high-energy electrons in a raster scan pattern to form images, or collect other signals, from the three-dimensional surface of a sample.
Introduction
The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is one of the most popular and user-friendly imaging tools that reveal the surface topography of a sample. It is also widely used for structural characterization of materials and devices, especially in the field of nanotechnology. Today there are in excess of 50,000 SEMs worldwide, and it is often seen as a “must-have” apparatus for research institutes and industry laboratories. In the SEM, incident electrons interact with the atoms that make up the sample producing signals that contain information about the sample’s surface morphology, composition, and other physical and chemical properties. The most common imaging mode in SEM lies in using...
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Zhu, Y., Inada, H. (2015). Scanning Electron Microscopy. In: Bhushan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6178-0_110-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6178-0_110-2
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