Electron Beam Expertise

About Our Research The Division performs research into new and improved measurements, standards and instrumentation for electron beam microanalysis. Special emphasis is placed on research and development to improve: Quantitative chemical analysis including matrix corrections, various correction procedure algorithms, Monte Carlo approaches and spectral manipulation methods. (see our software page) Chemical imaging at high spatial resolution. Spatial resolution --this includes the depth, area, and/or volume of the quantitative elemental and chemical information from a bulk, thin film, or particle specimen. Solving tough, real-world analytical problems with new or improved electron beam approaches. Technical Contact: Eric B. Steel

About Electron Beam Methods Electrons can be focused with magnetic fields to form small probes. These electron probes can be directed at specimens where they scatter either elastically or inelastically. Elastic scattering in the form of electron diffraction can be used to determine the crystal structure, orientation, and phase identification of a specimen. Inelastic scattering in the form of ionization of electrons from the various shells of the Bohr atom leads to quantitative elemental and chemical information through several spectrometries: Electron Energy Loss (EELS), X-ray (Energy or Wavelength Dispersive), and Auger. These spectrometries combined with electron imaging yield information from regions on a specimen of a few micrometers to less than a nanometer.

Analytical Instrumentation Resources Scanning Electron Microscopes & Microprobes: Hitachi S4500 FEG Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer, Electron Backscatter Detector Electroscan 2020 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope with X-ray Spectrometers JEOL 8600 Electron Microprobe with Five Wavelength and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometers JEOL 840 Scanning Electron Microscope with Silicon Drift and Microcalorimeter X-ray Spectrometers Analytical Electron Microscopes (AEM, TEM): Philips CM300 FEG TEM/STEM with Gatan GIF, Holography, X-ray spectrometry, and Emispec automation Philips CM30 LaB6 TEM/STEM with PEELS, X-ray spectrometry, and digital camera Vacuum Generators HB-501 FEG STEM (located at the NIST/NIH NanoAnalysis Facility with DigiPEELS Auger Microprobes: JEOL 7830F Field Emission Gun Scanning Auger Microprobe with X-ray Spectroscopy and XPS PHI 680 Field Emission Gun Scanning Auger Microprobe Other Electron/X-ray Optical Bench for fundamental studies Preparation Facilities Synthetic glass, thin film, and particle standard production Grinding, polishing, and thin sectioning Single particle manipulation, particle sizing/counting Disclaimer Certain commercial equipment, and software, are identified in this documentation to describe the subject adequately. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the NIST, nor does it imply that the equipment identified is necessarily the best available for the purpose.

Example Technical Activity Reports

Improving Quantitative Analysis: Analyzing the Tough Ones: Quantitative X-ray Microanalysis of Extreme Topography Monte Carlo Methods For Optimizing The Quantitative Analysis Of Thin Layers, Microparticles And Irregular Surfaces New Databases for Surface Analysis by Auger-Electron Spectroscopy and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy New Boron Substrates for Particle Microanalysis Improving Analytical Spatial Resolution Phase Identification from sub 200 nm particles by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) Phosphor Imaging Plate Measurements of Primary Electron Beam Broadening in the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope Direct Measurement of Electron Beam Scattering in the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope Using Phosphor Imaging Plate Technology

Improving Chemical Imaging at High Spatial Resolution Chemical Characterization of Magnetic Materials at High Spatial Resolution Logarithmic 3-Band Color Encoding: A Robust Method for Visualizing Compositional Information in X-ray Maps Measured in Scanning Electron Microscopes Solving tough, real-world analytical problems Analytical Electron Microscopy of Ultrathin Gate Dielectric Films on Silicon Characterization of the Morphology of Voids in Rutile Nanoparticles Fabrication and Electron Microprobe Characterization of Barium-Strontium-Titanate (BST) Films Solving Problems in Semiconductor Device Processing

Web Contact micro@nist.gov