Electron Microscopy Solutions for NanoResearch - FEI Company

10
Key capabilities
• Visualize
The primary requirement for any microscope is certainly
resolution. TEM manufacturers talk about two kinds of
resolution: image resolution (or point resolution) that
can be directly interpreted from an image, and the
information limit, the finest detail that can be trans-
ferred by the optical system, though not directly observ-
able because of lens aberrations. Aberration correctors
bring image resolution down to the information limit,
making the full resolving power of the microscope
directly observable in the images it produces.
• Analyze
Analytical resolution is often as important as imaging
resolution. Analytical resolution (for energy loss spec-
A heritage of innovation
• DualBeam
FEI invented the DualBeam, in which an SEM column
is positioned to image the face of a cross section milled
by a focused ion beam. Cross sections reveal subsurface
structure and with automated “slice and view” routines
can recreate three dimensional models from sequential
slices.
• ESEM
FEI pioneered the ESEM (Environmental SEM) which
permits direct observation of wet, contaminating, non-
conductive samples.
• Aberration correctors
The Titan is the first TEM to be designed specifically
for spherical aberration correctors, breaking once and
for all the 1 Ångström barrier for directly interpretable
image resolution..
• Monochromator
The Titan also incorporates monochromator technology
to reduce chromatic aberrations and improve the energy
resolution of electron energy loss spectrometry (EELS).
troscopy) depends on the energy distribution of the
beam and the spectrometer’s ability to resolve the
energy of transmitted electrons.
• Manipulate and control
Ultimately we want to manipulate the sample on the
nano-scale in an environment of our choosing. Ion
beams can remove or deposit material with nano-scale
precision. Specialized vacuum and detector technologies
permit the use of non-high-vacuum environments that
accommodate a wider range of samples and permit
observations of samples in a natural or controlled
experimental environment, and allow the introduction
of selected gases that work with the electron or ion
beam to modify the sample.
• Tomography
Automatically acquired rotational sequences of 2D
TEM projections are mathematically combined into 3D
models.
• Gas chemistry
Designer gases introduced into the ion or electron beam
path can selectively accelerate material removal or
deposition to create structure with nano-scale control.
• Automation
Automated setup, data acquisition, image processing,
3D modeling, and compositional analysis vastly improve
productivity and reliability, and reduce requirements for
operator training and expertise.