Transmission EELS attachment for SEM

Abstract

At present, transmission electron energy-loss spectrum (EELS) analysis is only carried out in transmission electron microscopes, such as the transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) or the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopes (STEMs). Although the elemental analysis can be done in the scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), its energy resolution is typically limited between 100-150 eV, nearly two orders of the magnitude larger than the energy resolution of the EELS in the TEMs/STEMs. This paper presents an EELS attachment for the conventional SEMs. K edge and the EELS low-loss spectrum of a thin amorphous carbon film are obtained in a Philips XL30 field emission SEM. The EELS attachment has the capability of acquiring structural information and 4 eV energy resolution at 30-keV primary beam energy. © 2006 IEEE.