a practical guide to running the scanning electron

7/21/2019 A Practical Guide to Running the Scanning Electron

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APractical

Guide

To

Running

the

ScanningElectronMicroscope

WilliamS.Monroe


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Sections

I. SampleIntroduction

II. DataAcquisition

III. SampleExtraction


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LogintoSEMLogBook(monitoron

theleft)


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Loginto

SEM

Log

Book

Loginbywritinganewrow. Informationrequiredforloggingin:

Date,UserName,Advisor,Sample/Project,TimeIn,

SampleClean?,

Stage

at

Zero?,

ChamberPressure,GunPressure,andEmissionCurrent

WheretofindChamberPressure,

GunPressure,

and

Emission

Current


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SampleIntroduction:

Turnon

chamber

camera

1:Selectchambercamera(lowerrightquadrant)

2:clickpausebuttoninthetoolbarto

activatechamber

camera

feed


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SampleIntroduction:

Makesure

that

stage

is

in

the

zero

position

1:Makesurethestageislowered,

Movemouse

inside

chamber

camera

videofeedandclickscrollbuttonon

mouseanddragdown

2:Makesurethestageiscentred(afterstageislowered),

PressCTRL+0(thatisazero,nottheletterO)


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SampleIntroduction:

Ventthe

chamber

Ifstage

is

lowered

and

centred:

VentthechamberbypressingtheVentButton


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SampleIntroduction:

Ventingthe

chamber

Duringventing,

the

chamber

portion

of

the

SEMiconwillchangefromgreentoorange.


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SampleIntroduction:

Thechamber

is

vented

Oncethe

chamber

is

vented,

the

chamber

portionoftheSEMiconwillchangefrom

orangetodarkgray.


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SampleIntroduction:

Openthe

chamber

Openthe

chamber

by

pulling

on

themetalbaronthebottomof

thestage.CAUTION:Donotleanonanypartofthe

instrumentorapplypressureinotherareas

than

the

metal

bar

on

the

bottom

of

the

stage. Doingsocouldharmthevacuum.


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SampleIntroduction:

Loadyour

sample

Wear

clean

gloves!!!CAUTION:

You

MUST

wear

clean

gloves

when

handling

and

loading

your

sample.


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SampleIntroduction:

Loadyour

sample

Thisisthestage,youwillseenumbered

holes.

Placeyour

sample

to

sit

in

one

of

theseholes.

CAUTION:Thestageisdelicate,donotforce

anything!

Slot

4

is

broken

because

of

a

user

exertingtoomuchforce. Toomuchpressure

maypermanentlydamagethestage.


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SampleIntroduction:

Loadyour

sample

Exampleofaplacedsample


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SampleIntroduction:

Closethe

chamber

Ifyour

sample

is

too

large,

STOP! Reopenthestageand

removeyoursample. Contact

WilliamMonroeandhewillload

ashorterstageforyou.

Watchthechambercamera.

Slowlyandgentlyclosethestage.

Makesurethatyoursampleisnot

goingtohitanyofthedetectors.


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SampleIntroduction:

Pumpthe

chamber

Withyoursamplesafelyloadedandthe

chamberclosed,

press

the

pump

button


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SampleIntroduction:

Pumpingthe

chamber

Theiconwillchangetoorangeduringpumping


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SampleIntroduction:

Turningthe

beam

on

Theiconwillchangetogreenoncepumpingis

complete

Turnontheelectronbeam

usingtheBeamOnbutton


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SampleIntroduction:

Viewingthe

microscope

image

Selecttheupperleftquadrantbyclickingonit

Then,activatethe

SecondaryElectronDetector

byunpausingthatwindow


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SampleIntroduction:

SecondaryElectron

Detector

Output

Youshouldnowbeseeingalivefeedfromthe

SecondaryElectronDetectorintheupperleft

quadrant


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SampleIntroduction:

Setyour

accelerating

voltage

and

spot

size

Setyouracceleratingvoltageandspotsizetoyour

desiredsetting.(Voltage=20kVandSpotSize=4.0

is

a

good

starting

point)


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SampleIntroduction:

Setyour

accelerating

voltage

and

spot

size

Setyouracceleratingvoltageandspotsizetoyour

desiredsetting.(Voltage=20kVandSpotSize=4.0

is

a

good

starting

point)


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SampleIntroduction:

Brightnessand

Contrast

Whenthelivefeedstarts,youmayneedtoadjust

thebrightnessandcontrastforabetterview. You

can

do

this

manually

or

simply

use

the

Auto

ContrastBrightnessButton


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SampleIntroduction:

Scanningspeed

Iftheimageisupdatingslowly,adjustthescanning

speed. 300nsisanappropriateworkingspeed. The

rabbit

icon

will

set

the

speed

to

300

ns.


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SampleIntroduction:

Findyour

sample

Youcanmovethesamplebydoubleclickinginthis

window. Thesamplewillberecentredwhereyou

double

click.

Youwillwantthechambercameraunpausedtoensure

yoursampleisnotgoingtoramthedetectorsduring

translation.


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SampleIntroduction:

Increasemagnification

to

~200x

UsethelargeMagnificationknobto

changethemagnificationto

approximately200x


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SampleIntroduction:

Focusat

@

~200x

UsetheFocusknobstobringyour

sampleintofocus. Mostofthetime,

youwillonlyneedtousetheFine

knob


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SampleIntroduction:

Increasemagnification

to

~3000x

UsethelargeMagnificationknobto

changethemagnificationto

approximately3000x


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SampleIntroduction:

Focusat

@

~3000x

UsetheFocusknobstobringyour

sampleintofocus. Mostofthetime,

youwillonlyneedtousetheFine

knob


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SampleIntroduction:

Linkthe

Zheight

to

the

working

distance

Onceyoursampleisinfocusatabout

3000x,linktheZheighttotheworking

distanceby

clicking

on

the

icon

with

the

redquestionmark.


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SampleIntroduction:

Raisethe

stage

Makesurethechambercamera(lowerrightquadrant)is

notpaused


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SampleIntroduction:

Raisethe

stage

Raisethe

stage

by

clicking

the

scroll

wheel

on

the

mousewhilehoveringoverthechambercamerafeed

andthendraggingthemousecursorup


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SampleIntroduction:

Raisethe

stage

Lockthe

Zand

Tstage

position

parameters

by

pushing

thepinbuttonscorrespondingtoZandT


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DonewithSampleIntroduction

Youarenowreadytoacquiredata!


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DataAcquisition


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DataAcquisition:

FullScreen

F5willtoggletheactivatedquadranttofull

screenandback


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DataAcquisition:

Focusat

High

Magnification

Forthesharpestimage,itisbesttofocus

atahighermagnificationthanyouare

acquiringdata. (ForExample,fortaking

imagesat3000x,focusat10000x)


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DataAcquisition:

Stigmate

Inadditiontofocus,togetthesharpest

imageyoumayneedtoadjustthe

stigmation usingtheXandYknobs

labeled Stigmator


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DataAcquisition:

AdjustingContrast

and

Brightness

Adjustbrightnessandcontrastpriortotakinganimageforbestresults


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DataAcquisition:

Takeapicture

Clickthe

camera

icon

to

acquire

an

image

Thiswillautomaticallyslowscanningrate,pause

acquisitionat

the

end

of

ascan,

and

prompt

you

tosavetheimage.


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DataAcquisition:

SaveAs

Saveyourimageintoasubdirectoryofthe

SharedData folderonthedesktop

Givethefileauniquenameincludingsampletype,magnification,anddetector

typeusedforexample,PipeCrossSection_6000x_SE.tif

Alwayssaveas.tif,andunlessyouhaveannotatedtheimageorneedcolor,the

8bittype

is

fine.

A i i i


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DataAcquisition:

BackscatterElectron

Activatingtheupperrightquadrantwilldisplay

datafromtheBackscatterElectronDetector


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DonewithDataAcquisition


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SampleExtraction

S l E t ti


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SampleExtraction:

Turnthe

Beam

Off

Turnoff

the

beam

by

clicking

the

Beam

On

button

S l E t ti


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SampleExtraction:

Unlockthe

stage

Selectthe

Navigation

Tab

UnlocktheZandTstagepositionparametersbypushing

thepinbuttonscorrespondingtoZandT

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Lowerthe

stage

Makesure

the

chamber

camerais active

Lowerthestage byclickingthescrollwheelon

themouse

while

hovering

over

the

chamber

camerafeedandthendraggingthemouse

cursordown

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Zerothe

stage

Makesure

the

chamber

camerais active

Withthestagelowered,pressCTRL0tocentre

thestage

CAUTION:Ifyounoticethatmovingthestage

willcauseaproblem,youcanstopthecurrent

motionbypressingtheEsckeyonthe

keyboard

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Ventingthe

chamber

Whilethe

chamber

is

venting,thechambericon

willturnorange


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Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Openthe

chamber

Openthechamberbypullingon

themetalbaronthebottomof

thestage.CAUTION:Donotleanonanypartofthe

instrumentorapplypressureinotherareas

thanthemetalbaronthebottomofthe

stage.

Doing

so

could

harm

the

vacuum.

Sample Extaction:


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SampleExtaction:

Removeyour

sample

Wearcleangloves!!!

CAUTION:

You

MUST

wear

clean

gloves

when

handling

and

loading

your

sample.

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Removeyour

sample

Exampleofsampleneedingtobe

removed

CAUTION:Thestageisdelicate,donotforce

anything! Slot4isbrokenbecauseofauser

exerting

too

much

force.

Too

much

pressure

maypermanentlydamagethestage.

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Loadyour

sample

Thestageshouldbeclearofsamplewhen

youaredonewithyoursession.

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Closethe

chamber

Watchthechambercamera.

Slowlyand

gently

close

the

stage.

Makesurethatthestageisnotgoing

tohitanyofthedetectors.

Sample Extraction:


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SampleExtraction:

Pumpthe

chamber

PumpthechamberbypressingthePump

button

Thechambericonwillturnorangeasthe

chamberis

pumped

to

high

vacuum.

Makesurethechamberpumpsallthewayto

greenbeforeyouleave!


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Log

out

of

SEM

Log

BookLogoutofSEMLogbookbyfinishingtherowyoustarted

previously. Informationrequiredforloggingout:

TimeOut,EngineerTime,SampleRemoved,PumpModeHigh

Vacuum,StagePumpedtoGreen,UserCommentsandComplaints,andAccountNumberifithaschanged

Afteryouhaveenteredallyourdatasavethespreadsheet.


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Data

Transfer TheSEMcomputersarenotonthenetwork

anddo

not

have

up

to

date

virus

protection!

UsetheprovidedUSBFlashDrivestotransfer

yourdatafromtheleftSEMcomputertothe

networkcomputer

in

the

lab.

Atthenetworkcomputerinthelabyoucan

transfer

your

data

via

the

network

or

on

to

yourpersonaldatastoragedevice.

a practical guide to running the scanning electron

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