SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE It is used for the surface characterization of materials. It produces images of a sample by scanning the surface with a focused beam of electrons. It provides information about topography(surface features), morphology (shape and size), composition, and crystallographic information. PRINCIPLE The electrons interact with the atoms in the sample, producing various signals that contain information about the surface topography and composition of the sample. The accelerated electrons in an SEM carry significant amounts of kinetic energy, and this energy is dissipated as a variety of signals produced by electron sample interactions. Backscatter electrons are incidental electrons reflected backward which provide composition data related to element and compound detection. Diffracted backscatter electrons determine crystalline structures as well as the orientation of minerals and micro-fabric, X-rays emitted from beneath the sample surface, can provide ele...