The Scanning Confocal Electron Microscope

Abstract

Imaging of sub-micron , sub-surface features of thick optically dense materials at high resolution has always been a difficult and/or time consuming task in materials research. For the most part this role has been relegated to technologically complex and expensive instrumentation having highly penetrating radiation, such as the synchrotron- based Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscope (STXM) or involves the careful preparation of thin cross-section slices for study using the Transmission/Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM/STEM).