Cathodoluminescence attachment to an electron probe instrument

A simple cathodoluminescence (CL) attachment to a JEOL JSM-840 scanning electron microscope (SEM) is described. It is based on a Si photodiode mounted inside the SEM chamber. The current amplifier of a backscattered electron detector unit, which is a standard feature of this SEM, is used to amplify and display the CL images. Examples of CL panchromatic (integral) images of GaAs, InP, and ZnS crystals are presented.