Meng Cao

Note: Measuring effects of Ar-ion cleaning on the secondary electron yield of copper due to electron impact

In a measurement system of total secondary electron yield (SEY) with in situ ion cleaning, we investigate SEY characteristics of the Cu samples cleaned at different Ar-ion energies and cleaning time. Measured SEY data are compared with those before cleaning and simulated with the Monte Carlo method for an ideal surface of copper. We find that weakening the cleaning intensity, i.e., the ion energy or cleaning time, in some circumstances, can further reduce both the maximum SEY and the SEY at the high-energy end (>0.3 keV) of primary electrons, though the SEY is increased somewhat at the low-energy end. Accompanied by the analysis on the opposing contributions of contamination elimination and surface morphology to the SEY, this study thus provides a comprehensive insight into the effects of ion cleaning on the SEY in the investigation and suppression of secondary electron emission.

An automatic method of detecting and tracking fiducial markers for alignment in electron tomography

We presented an automatic method for detecting and tracking colloidal gold fiducial markers for alignment in electron tomography (ET). The second-order derivative of direction was used to detect a fiducial marker accurately. The detection was optimized to be selective to the size of fiducial markers. A preliminary tracking result from the normalized correlation coefficient was refined using the detector. A constraint model considering the relationship among the fiducial markers on different images was developed for removing outlier. The three-dimensional positions of the detected fiducial markers and the projection parameters of tilt images were calculated for post process. The accuracy of detection and tracking results was evaluated from the residues by the software IMOD. Application on transmission electron microscopic images also indicated that the presented method could provide a useful approach to automatic alignment in ET.

Multiple scattering effects of MeV electrons in very thick amorphous specimens.

Multiple scattering has an important influence on the analysis of microns-thick specimens with MeV electrons. In this paper, we report on effects of multiple scattering of MeV electrons on electron transmission and imaging of tilted and thick amorphous film specimens by experiment and theoretical analysis. Electron transmission for microns-thick epoxy-resin and SiO(2) specimens calculated by the multiple elastic-scattering theory is in good agreement with measurements in the ultrahigh voltage electron microscope (ultra-HVEM) at Osaka University. Electron transmission and electron energy are then presented in an approximate power law. The bright-field ultra-HVEM images of gold particles on the top or bottom surfaces of 5 and 15mum thick specimens further illustrate the effect of multiple scattering on image quality. The observed top-bottom effect for the very thick specimens appears to be mainly caused by multiple elastic scattering. With increase in the accelerating voltage from 1 to 2MV, image blurring, contrast, the signal-to-noise ratio, and the top-bottom effect are improved because of reduction in the influence of multiple scattering. However, the effect of specimen thickness on image blurring is shown to be stronger than that of accelerating voltage. At the 2MV accelerating voltage, the 100nm gold particle can be imaged with less blurring of approximately 4nm when located at the bottom surface of a 15mum thick epoxy-resin specimen.

Image quality of microns-thick specimens in the ultra-high voltage electron microscope.

Image quality of MeV transmission electrons is an important factor for both observation and electron tomography of microns-thick specimens with the high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) and the ultra-HVEM. In this work, we have investigated image quality of a tilted thick specimen by experiment and analysis. In a 3 MV ultra-HVEM, we obtained transmission electron images in amplitude contrast of 100 nm gold particles on the top surface of a tilted 5 microm thick amorphous epoxy-resin film. From line profiles of the images, we then measured and evaluated image blurring, contrast, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) under different effective thicknesses of the tilted specimen and accelerating voltages of electrons. The variation of imaging blurring was consistent with the analysis based on multiple elastic scattering. When the effective thickness almost tripled, image blurring increased from approximately 3 to approximately 20 nm at the accelerating voltage of 3 MV. For the increase of accelerating voltage from 1 to 3 MV in the condition of the 14.6 microm effective thickness, due to the reduction of multiple scattering effects, image blurring decreased from approximately 54 to approximately 20 nm, and image contrast and SNR were both obviously enhanced by a factor of approximately 3 to preferable values. The specimen thickness was shown to influence image quality more than the accelerating voltage. Moreover, improvement on image quality of thick specimens due to increasing the accelerating voltage would become less when it was further increased from 2 to 3 MV in this work.

Secondary electron emission from rough metal surfaces: a multi-generation model

We develop a multi-generation model to examine secondary electron emission (SEE) from a rough metal surface. In this model, the traces of both primary electrons (PEs) and secondary electrons (SEs) are tracked by combining the electron scattering in the material and the multi-interaction with the rough surface. The effective secondary electron emission yield (SEY) is then obtained from the final states of the multi-generation SEs. Using this model, the SEE properties of the surfaces with rectangular and triangular grooves have been examined. We find that a rectangular groove can be used for effective SEE suppression. For a triangular groove, the criterion of SEY enhancement/suppression has been achieved, indicating that a small groove angle is required for effective SEE suppression, especially for a high PE energy. Furthermore, the SEE properties for some random rough surfaces are examined and some preliminary results are presented. Accordingly, our model and results could provide a powerful tool to give a comprehensive insight into the SEE of rough metal surfaces.

Determination of the linear attenuation range of electron transmission through film specimens

We have investigated the linear attenuation range of electron transmission through film specimens and its dependence on the electron energy, the acceptance half-angle of a detector or an objective aperture, and specimen properties, in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and the conventional transmission electron microscope (TEM). Electron transmission in the bright-field mode was calculated by the Monte Carlo simulation of electron scattering, and its range of the linear attenuation in film thickness was then determined by a linear least squares fit. The corresponding linear thickness range was shown to increase with the electron energy and the acceptance half-angle, although it decreased with the increase in the atomic number of specimen materials. Under the condition of a 300kV STEM or a 3MV ultra-high voltage electron microscope (ultra-HVEM), the linear attenuation range could extend to several microns for light specimen materials, and this was validated by experimental data in the ultra-HVEM. The presented results can be helpful for accurately measuring the specimen thickness or mass from electron transmission, and estimating the deviation of electron transmission from linearity when tilting a specimen in electron tomography.

Note: A simple charge neutralization method for measuring the secondary electron yield of insulators

We report on a simple and effective charge neutralization method for measuring the total electron-induced secondary electron yield of insulators in a measurement system with a single pulsed electron gun. In this method, the secondary electron collector is negatively biased with respect to the sample to force some emitted secondary electrons to return to the sample surface and therefore to neutralize positive charges accumulated in the sample during the previous measurement. The adequate negative bias is determined and the equilibrium state of negative charging is discussed. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated by the measured electron yields in the cases with and without charge neutralization and by comparison with existing electron yield data of polyimide.

Space charge characteristics of an insulating thin film negatively charged by a low-energy electron beam

In this study, based on a comprehensive numerical simulation of self-consistent charging, we investigate the formation, evolution and influencing factors of space charge distributions for a grounded insulating thin film of SiO(2) negatively charged by a keV non-penetrating focused electron beam. The simulated space charge presents first positive distributions and then negative ones along both the radial and depth directions because of the difference between electron and hole transports. The variations in distribution occur within a range of the minimum potential acting as a potential barrier for carrier transport. The negative space charge is distributed more widely and deeply, though its peak value in density is usually lower than that of the positive one. Electrons trapped outside the minimum potential range dominate the strength of negative charging. With the increase in potential barrier and the occurrence of leakage current, the space charge eventually reaches equilibrium and exhibits an approximately one-dimensional axial distribution outside the minimum potential range. Distribution features of the space charge density in the equilibrium state correlate with the film and beam parameters via transients of the leakage current. These results and analyses provide new insights into the negative charging effects involved in various electron-beam-based surface microscopic methods, analyses and fabrication techniques.

Influence of surface topography on the secondary electron yield of clean copper samples.

Secondary electron yield (SEY) due to electron impact depends strongly on surface topography. The SEY of copper samples after Ar-ion bombardment is measured in situ in a multifunctional ultrahigh vacuum system. Increasing the ion energy or duration of ion bombardment can even enlarge the SEY, though it is relatively low under moderate bombardment intensity. The results obtained with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images demonstrate that many valley structures of original sample surfaces can be smoothed due to ion bombardment, but more hill structures are generated with stronger bombardment intensity. With increasing the surface roughness in the observed range, the maximum SEY decreases from 1.2 to 1.07 at a surface characterized by valleys, while it again increases to 1.33 at a surface spread with hills. This phenomenon indicates that hill and valley structures are respectively effective in increasing and decreasing the SEY. These obtained results thus provide a comprehensive insight into the surface topography influence on the secondary electron emission characteristics in scanning electron microscopy.

Combined effects of sample parameters on polymer charging due to electron irradiation: A contour simulation

Combined effects of sample parameters on polymer charging due to electron irradiation are explored by a novel approach of contour in parallel computing. Transient processes of negative charging of a Kapton film sample irradiated by 10 keV electrons are simulated with a simultaneous scattering-transport model and the existing experimental secondary electron current. As a function of sample thickness and electron mobility, the contour maps are then presented of the steady-state leakage current and surface potential and the total charge accumulated in a charging process. It is found that the leakage current and surface potential behave similarly in the contour form, and the total charge has the local maximum with respect to the sample thickness. Generally, the sample thickness affects the charging process more than the electron mobility, but both have less influence in very strong and weak charging states. Accompanied by discussion of charge dissipation effects, this study offers a comprehensive insight into complicated charging phenomena in electron-based surface microscopy, analysis and measurement.