Monday, September 1, 2003
2003 R&D 100 Winner
A bevy of imaging tools and methods offer researchers the ability to visualize beyond a simple surface and down to the molecular level. The popular instruments of choice have been scanning electron microscopes (SEM), scanning transmission x-ray microscopes (STXM) and transmission/scanning transmission electron microscope (TEM/STEM). Now a new microscope created by Nestor Zaluzec at Argonne National Laboratory, Ill., has combined the benefits of these systems and created the Scanning Confocal Electron Microcope (SCEM).
The device permits the observation and characterization of sub-surface structures of thick, optically opaque material at both nanometer-level resolutions and large fields of view. Designed to merge the concept of confocal imaging with the ease of use of an SEM and the penetration ability of both STXM and the TEM/STEM, the SCEM functions up to 100 times faster than an STXM yet can be constructed for only a fraction of the cost. In terms of resolution, the SCEM can analyze subsurface structures in semiconductors up to 10-µm thick, and has a large field of view, up to 0.5 mm2 in 1 min. This device may have a wide range of applications, particularly in defect studies and failure analysis.
Technology
Scanning confocal electron microcope
Developer
Argonne National Laboratory
