Scanning electron microscopy

The scanning electron microscope is widely used in condensed matter physics research for providing nano-scale topographic images of material surfaces. This chapter introduces the subject of scanning electron microscopy, mostly in terms of describing the basic principles behind how the scanning electron microscope (SEM) instrument functions and its main figures of merit, such as image resolution and signal-to-noise. The chapter emphasizes how the overall performance of a scanning electron microscope is critically dependent on a variety of different factors, such as the quality of its electron source, the low aberration design of its objective lens, and primary beam-specimen interaction effects.