Non-monotonic material contrast in scanning ion and scanning electron images

30 keV Ga⁺ focused ion beam induced secondary electron (iSE) imaging was used to determine the relative contrast between several materials. The iSE signal compared from C, Si, Al, Ti, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mo, Ag, and W metal layers does not decrease with an increase in target atomic number Z₂, and shows a non-monotonic relationship between contrast and Z₂. The non-monotonic relationship is attributed to periodic fluctuations of the stopping power and sputter yield inherent to the ion–solid interactions. In addition, material contrast from electron-induced secondary electron (eSE) and backscattered electron (BSE) images using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) also shows non-monotonic contrast as a function of Z₂, following the periodic behavior of the stopping power for electron–solid interactions. A comparison of the iSE and eSE results shows similar relative contrast between the metal layers, and not complementary contrast as conventionally understood. These similarities in the contrast behavior can be attributed to similarities in the periodic and non-monotonic function defined by incident particle–solid interaction theory.