Long-time stability of a low-energy electron diffraction spin polarization analyzer for magnetic imaging

The time stability of a polarization analyzer that is used for imaging of magnetic structures in a scanning electron microscope with spin polarization analysis (spin-SEM or SEMPA) is investigated. The detector is based on the diffraction of low-energy electrons at a W(100) crystal at 104.5 eV (LEED detector). Due to the adsorption of hydrogen from residual gas, a change of the scattering conditions is found that causes an angular shift of the LEED beams as well as changes of intensity. The quality factor, which describes the efficiency of the detector in SEMPA application, however, is found to be almost constant up to a hydrogen coverage of θ ≈ 0.25. This gives stable working conditions within roughly 1 h at vacuum conditions of 10(-10) mbar.     

Characterization of chevron-shaped permalloy magnetic memory elements by four magnetic imaging techniques

Scanning auger microscopy (SAM) and the recently developed scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA) are easily combined analytical techniques which provide quantitative submicrometer images of X-, Y-, and Z-axis spin polarization components of magnetization. SAM/SEMPA, along with three established magnetic imaging techniques (Bitter colloidal, longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr microscopy, and the Fresnel mode of Lorentz microscopy), was used to characterize a chevron-shaped permalloy magnetic memory element. Reflected light and secondary electrons were used to image the topography. Auger electrons identified and imaged the elemental composition. Reflected light, transmitted electrons, and secondary electrons were used to image the magnetic microstructure. The Bitter colloidal images showed only the delineation of the domain walls, and the longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr microscopy images produced similar results. The Lorentz microscopy images provided the most qualitative magnetization information. SAM/SEMPA was the only technique to combine elemental information and quantitative magnetization information with images having submicrometer resolution.     

Simulation of transmission electron microscope images of biological specimens

We present a new approach to simulate electron cryo‐microscope images of biological specimens. The framework for simulation consists of two parts; the first is a phantom generator that generates a model of a specimen suitable for simulation, the second is a transmission electron microscope simulator. The phantom generator calculates the scattering potential of an atomic structure in aqueous buffer and allows the user to define the distribution of molecules in the simulated image. The simulator includes a well defined electron–specimen interaction model based on the scalar Schrödinger equation, the contrast transfer function for optics, and a noise model that includes shot noise as well as detector noise including detector blurring. To enable optimal performance, the simulation framework also includes a calibration protocol for setting simulation parameters. To test the accuracy of the new framework for simulation, we compare simulated images to experimental images recorded of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) in vitreous ice. The simulated and experimental images show good agreement with respect to contrast variations depending on dose and defocus. Furthermore, random fluctuations present in experimental and simulated images exhibit similar statistical properties. The simulator has been designed to provide a platform for development of new instrumentation and image processing procedures in single particle electron microscopy, two‐dimensional crystallography and electron tomography with well documented protocols and an open source code into which new improvements and extensions are easily incorporated.     

The role of induced contrast in images obtained using the environmental scanning electron microscope

Generation of contrast in images obtained using the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) is explained by interpretation of images acquired using the gaseous secondary electron detector (GSED), ion current, and the Everhart-Thornley detector. We present a previously unreported contrast component in GSED and ion current images attributed to signal induction by changes in the concentration of positive ions in the ESEM chamber during image acquisition. Changes in positive ion concentration are caused by changes in electron emission from the sample during image acquisition and by a discrepancy between the drift velocities of negative and positive charge carriers in the imaging gas. The proposed signal generation mechanism is used to explain contrast reversal in images produced using the GSED and ion current signals and accounts for discrepancies in contrast observed, under some conditions, in these types of images. Combined with existing models of signal generation in the ESEM, the proposed model provides a basis for correct interpretation of ESEM images.     

Collection of secondary electrons in scanning electron microscopes

Collection of the secondary electrons in the scanning electron microscope was simulated and the results have been experimentally verified for two types of the objective lens and three detection systems. The aberration coefficients of both objective lenses as well as maximum axial magnetic fields in the specimen region are presented. Compared are a standard side‐attached secondary electron detector, in which only weak electrostatic and nearly no magnetic field influence the signal trajectories in the specimen vicinity, and the side‐attached (lower) and upper detectors in an immersion system with weak electrostatic but strong magnetic field penetrating towards the specimen. The collection efficiency was calculated for all three detection systems and several working distances. The ability of detectors to attract secondary electron trajectories for various initial azimuthal and polar angles was calculated, too. According to expectations, the lower detector of an immersion system collects no secondary electrons I and II emitted from the specimen and only backscattered electrons and secondary electrons III form the final image. The upper detector of the immersion system exhibits nearly 100% collection efficiency decreasing, however, with the working distance, but the topographical contrast is regrettably suppressed in its image. The collection efficiency of the standard detector is low for short working distances but increases with the same, preserving strong topographical contrast.     

The formation and interpretation of defect images from crystalline materials in a scanning transmission electron microscope.

The technique of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has been employed usefully in studies of amorphous materials, and the theory of image formation and interpretation in this case has been well developed. Less attention has been given to the practical and theoretical problems associated with the use of STEM for the examination of crystalline materials. In this case the contrast mechanisms are dominated by Bragg diffraction and so they are quite different from those occurring in amorphous substances. In this paper practical techniques for the observation and interpretation of contrast from defects in crystalline materials are discussed. It is shown that whilst images of defects are obtained readily under all typical STEM operating conditions, the form of the image and the information it contains varies with the angle subtended at the specimen by the detector. If this angle is too large significant image modifications relative to the "conventional" transmission electron microscope case may occur and the resolution of the image may degrade. If this angle is too small, then signal to noise considerations make an interpretation of the image difficult. In this paper we indicate how the detector angle may be chosen correctly, and also present techniques for setting up a STEM instrument for imaging a crystalline material containing lattice defects.     

Combined experimental setup for spin- and angle-resolved direct and inverse photoemission

We present a combined experimental setup for spin- and angle-resolved direct and inverse photoemission in the vacuum ultraviolet energy range for measurements of the electronic structure below and above the Fermi level. Both techniques are installed in one ultrahigh-vacuum chamber and, as a consequence, allow quasisimultaneous measurements on one and the same sample preparation. The photoemission experiment consists of a gas discharge lamp and an electron energy analyzer equipped with a spin polarization detector based on spin-polarized low-energy electron diffraction. Our homemade inverse-photoemission spectrometer comprises a GaAs photocathode as spin-polarized electron source and Geiger-Muller counters for photon detection at a fixed energy of 9.9 eV. The total energy resolution of the experiment is better than 50 meV for photoemission and better than 200 meV for inverse photoemission. The performance of our combined direct and inverse-photoemission experiment with respect to angular and energy resolutions is exemplified by the Fermi-level crossing of the Cu(111) L-gap surface state. Spin-resolved measurements of Co films on Cu(001) are used to characterize the Sherman function of the spin polarization detector as well as the spin polarization of our electron source.     

Electron multiplier-scintillator detector for pulse counting positive or negative ions

A general-purpose ion detector has been developed for fast pulse counting in mass spectrometry. It consists of a six-stage electron multiplier joined to part of a scintillator detector. This novel arrangement combines the virtually noiseless pulse-amplification response of an electron multiplier with the bipolar voltage flexibility of a scintillator detector. The resulting hybrid detector is superior in performance to either an electron multiplier or a conventional scintillator detector. It is designed to detect a beam of positive ions or negative ions focused to a line image or to a spot at the focal plane of a mass analyzer. Background counting noise is less than 1 count/min when the detector is used in either the positive ion or negative ion detecting mode. Mass-resolved ions are post-accelerated through an electric field to give them an additional kinetic energy of 10 keV before they strike the ion-to-electron converter in the electron multiplier. This allows low-energy ions to be detected with an efficiency close to unity, over a range of ion masses from 1 amu up to several hundred amu. Randomly spaced pulses can be counted at rates from 0 Hz to 10 MHz. The design of the detector and its operating characteristics are discussed.     

Transmission electron microscopy at 20 kV for imaging and spectroscopy

The electron optical performance of a transmission electron microscope (TEM) is characterized for direct spatial imaging and spectroscopy using electrons with energies as low as 20 keV. The highly stable instrument is equipped with an electrostatic monochromator and a C_S-corrector. At 20 kV it shows high image contrast even for single-layer graphene with a lattice transfer of 213 pm (tilted illumination). For 4 nm thick Si, the 200 reflections (271.5 pm) were directly transferred (axial illumination). We show at 20 kV that radiation-sensitive fullerenes (C₆₀) within a carbon nanotube container withstand an about two orders of magnitude higher electron dose than at 80 kV. In spectroscopy mode, the monochromated low-energy electron beam enables the acquisition of EELS spectra up to very high energy losses with exceptionally low background noise. Using Si and Ge, we show that 20 kV TEM allows the determination of dielectric properties and narrow band gaps, which were not accessible by TEM so far. These very first results demonstrate that low kV TEM is an exciting new tool for determination of structural and electronic properties of different types of nano-materials.     

A differentially pumped secondary electron detector for low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy

A new design of secondary electron (SE) detector is described for use in low-vacuum scanning electron microscopes. Its distinguishing feature is a separate detector chamber, which can be maintained at a pressure independent of the pressure in the specimen chamber. The two chambers are separated by a perforated membrane or mesh across which an electric field is applied, making it relatively transparent to low-energy electrons but considerably less so to the gas molecules. The benefits of this arrangement are discussed. The final means of detecting the electrons can be a conventional scintillator and photomultiplier arrangement or any of the methods using the ambient gas as an amplifying medium. Images obtained with the detector show good SE contrast and low backscattered electron contribution.     

Simultaneous measurement of magnetic vortex polarity and chirality using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA)

The magnetic vortex structure is an equilibrium configuration frequently found in patterned magnetic nanostructures. It is characterized by an in-plane curling of the magnetization with clockwise or anticlockwise chirality and by an out-of-plane vortex core that can have a positive or negative polarity. The small size of the vortex core, on the order of 10 nm, makes it technologically interesting due to potential data storage, but also difficult to measure or image directly. In this work, we used Scanning Electron Microscopy with Polarization Analysis (SEMPA) to directly image magnetic vortex cores in patterned NiFe/Ta bilayer structures. With SEMPA we can simultaneously measure the in-plane and the out-of-plane component of the surface magnetization and thereby determine both the vortex chirality and the vortex core polarity in a single measurement. Our magnetic simulation of the vortex core, considering only the exchange and magnetostatic energy, is in good agreement with the SEMPA measurement of the magnetization when other experimental factors are taken into account.     

The injected-charge contrast mechanism in scanned imaging of doped semiconductors by very slow electrons

A new contrast mechanism is reported that visualizes doped areas in semiconductors in very low-energy electron micrographs. The method is based on the use of the cathode lens principle in a scanning electron microscope, in order to form a primary beam of energy in units of electron volts. Below about 3 eV the doped areas exhibited a strong contrast, the explanation of which is based on the injection and recombination of electrons and on the ability of the small negative surface charge thereby created to decrease the very low landing energy of incident electrons near enough to conditions of total reflection. This imaging method enables one to study the charge injection effects in semiconductors, and in view of its high contrast the mode may offer fast image acquisition, while the extremely low-electron energy ensures operation free of any radiation damage to the specimen.     

The injected-charge contrast mechanism in scanned imaging of doped semiconductors by very slow electrons

A new contrast mechanism is reported that visualizes doped areas in semiconductors in very low-energy electron micrographs. The method is based on the use of the cathode lens principle in a scanning electron microscope, in order to form a primary beam of energy in units of electron volts. Below about 3eV the doped areas exhibited a strong contrast, the explanation of which is based on the injection and recombination of electrons and on the ability of the small negative surface charge thereby created to decrease the very low landing energy of incident electrons near enough to conditions of total reflection. This imaging method enables one to study the charge injection effects in semiconductors, and in view of its high contrast the mode may offer fast image acquisition, while the extremely low-electron energy ensures operation free of any radiation damage to the specimen.     

Imaging of specimens at optimized low and very low energies in scanning electron microscopes.

The modern trend towards low electron energies in scanning electron microscopy (SEM), characterised by lowering the acceleration voltages in low-voltage SEM (LVSEM) or by utilising a retarding-field optical element in low-energy SEM (LESEM), makes the energy range where new contrasts appear accessible. This range is further extended by a scanning low-energy electron microscope (SLEEM) fitted with a cathode lens that achieves nearly constant spatial resolution throughout the energy scale. This enables one to optimise freely the electron beam energy according to the given task. At low energies, there exist classes of image contrast that make particular specimen data visible most effectively or even exclusively within certain energy intervals or at certain energy values. Some contrasts are well understood and can presently be utilised for practical surface examinations, but others have not yet been reliably explained and therefore supplementary experiments are needed.     

Interpretation of secondary electron images obtained using a low vacuum SEM

Charging of insulators in a variable pressure environment was investigated in the context of secondary electron (SE) image formation. Sample charging and ionized gas molecules present in a low vacuum specimen chamber can give rise to SE image contrast. "Charge-induced" SE contrast reflects lateral variations in the charge state of a sample caused by electron irradiation during and prior to image acquisition. This contrast corresponds to SE emission current alterations produced by sub-surface charge deposited by the electron beam. "Ion-induced" contrast results from spatial inhomogeneities in the extent of SE signal inhibition caused by ions in the gaseous environment of a low vacuum scanning electron microscope (SEM). The inhomogeneities are caused by ion focusing onto regions of a sample that correspond to local minima in the magnitude of the surface potential (generated by sub-surface trapped charge), or topographic asperities. The two types of contrast exhibit characteristic dependencies on microscope operating parameters such as scan speed, beam current, gas pressure, detector bias and working distance. These dependencies, explained in terms of the behavior of the gaseous environment and sample charging, can serve as a basis for a correct interpretation of SE images obtained using a low vacuum SEM.     

一种MCP光子计数位置灵敏探测器图像采集系统

光子计数位置灵敏探测器在光子、粒子成像领域应用广泛,而图像采集系统是其重要组成部分。在介绍光子计数位置灵敏探测器的工作原理的基础上,分析了实现计数成像功能的软硬件需求,并设计了一套满足该需求的软硬件平台;依据该设计搭建了图像采集系统的硬件平台并采用LabVIEW编写了图像采集软件;最后进行成像实验验证了该套图像采集系统的性能。实验结果显示,基于该图像采集系统光子计数位置灵敏探测器能够将空间频率为7.14lp/mm的目标分开,表明该图像采集系统实现了其预期功能。     

Compact retarding-potential Mott polarimeter

A simple compact retarding-potential Mott polarimeter is described that operates at an electron accelerating voltage of 25 kV. With a thorium target the instrument provides efficiencies eta [=S2eff(I/I0), where Seff is the effective asymmetry (Sherman) function and I/I0 is the scattering efficiency] of approximately 1.3 x 10(-4) which are similar to the best values obtained using earlier Mott polarimeters. The present instrument, however, occupies a much smaller volume and is suitable for a wide range of applications involving angle- and/or energy-resolved polarization measurements.     

Progress and perspectives for atomic-resolution electron microscopy

The transmission electron microscope (TEM) has evolved into a highly sophisticated instrument that is ideally suited to the characterization of advanced materials. Atomic-level information is routinely accessible using both fixed-beam and scanning TEMs. This report briefly considers developments in the field of atomic-resolution electron microscopy. Recent activities include renewed attention to on-line microscope control ('autotuning'), and assessment and correction of aberrations. Aberration-corrected electron microscopy has developed rapidly in several forms although more work needs to be done to identify standard imaging conditions and to explore novel operating modes. Preparation of samples and image interpretation have also become more demanding. Ongoing problems include discrepancies between measured and simulated image contrast, concerns about radiation damage, and inversion of electron scattering.     

全局参数估计的水下目标偏振复原方法

水体介质对光的吸收和散射是导致水下成像退化的两大主要影响因素。针对水下目标成像,本文提出了一种全局参数估计的水下目标偏振复原方法,利用构建的精简水下目标偏振重构模型,通过自动估计全局最优偏振信息重构参数,复原出水下目标图像,降低水体对图像质量的影响。在估计重构参数的过程中,首先,采用偏振中值滤波方法和基于亮原色原理的方法,分别估算水下背景光偏振度信息和无穷远处水下背景光强值;再利用基于最小互信息原则对估计的背景光偏振度信息进行优化;然后采用水下目标偏振图像增强算法将得到的水下目标重构图进行细节增强处理,最终获得复原后的水下目标辐射信息图。实验结果表明,在性能评价指标方面,相较于水下原图和其他水下复原方法处理图,利用本文方法处理后所得的图像增强测量值EME平均提高了120%,图像质量得到了明显的改善。该方法解决了人工取景估计参数不佳的问题,提高了复原目标图像的对比度,可以用于浑浊水下的目标探测与识别。     

Intense source of spin-polarized electrons

Spin angular momentum conservation in chemiionization reactions involving optically oriented He(2(3)S) atoms in a flowing helium afterglow has been exploited to yield a source of spin-polarized electrons. Either transversely or longitudinally polarized electrons can be extracted. Polarized electron beam currents of approximately 2 muA have been realized at 40% polarization. The beam has an effective emittance of approximately 2 mrad/cm over the energy range 100-400 eV, an energy spread of less, similar0.15 eV, and the polarization is readily reversible. The source is relatively inexpensive and appears suitable for the majority of low-energy spin-dependent scattering experiments proposed to date.