Fundamental problems of imaging subsurface structures in the backscattered electron mode in scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

In-depth imaging of subsurface structures in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is usually obtained by detecting backscattered electrons (BSE). For a layer-by-layer imaging in BSE microtomography, it is preferable to use an energy filtering of BSE. A simple approach is used to estimate the contrast by using backscattering coefficients of bulk materials and the maximum escape depths of the BSE. The contrast obtained by BSE energy filtering is about twice that of the standard BSE method by varying the acceleration voltage. The contrast decreases with increasing information depth. The information depth is about four times smaller than the electron range. The transmission of the spectrometer influences the minimum current of the order of 10−8 A that is needed to get a contrast of 1%, for example.