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Contrast Formation in the SEM

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A Beginners' Guide to Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract

An electron beam is rastered across the specimen surface resulting in the generation of secondary and backscattered electrons which are used to form images while x-rays are used to obtain elemental constitution of the specimen material. Present-day technology allows imaging of features as small as 1 nm in the SEM. The predominant use of the SEM is to generate SE and BSE images showing topographic and compositional contrast, respectively. This chapter deals with the mechanism of contrast formation, factors that affect its development, and how its interplay contributes to the appearance of various features observed in the images.

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  • 09 August 2023

    A correction has been published.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Engineering Research, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

    Anwar Ul-Hamid

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  1. Anwar Ul-Hamid
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Ul-Hamid, A. (2018). Contrast Formation in the SEM. In: A Beginners' Guide to Scanning Electron Microscopy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98482-7_3

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