FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

SCANNING ELECTRON
MICROSCOPE
EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS
A scanning electron microscope
(SEM) is a type of electron
microscope that produces images
of a sample by scanning the surface
with a focused beam of electrons.

The electrons interact with atoms in

the sample, producing various
signals that contain information
about the surface and composition
of the sample. SEM can achieve
resolution better than 1 nanometer.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 Parts in a Scanning Electron Microscope
• Electron gun
• Anode
• Magnetic lens
• Deflector coils
• Electron detector
• Electron column
• Sample stage
• Electron detector
• Sample chamber
• Computer Controller

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 IMPORTANT PARTS IN SEM

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 Electron Gun

• Produces the electron that

will be used to look at a
sample.
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS
 Magnetic Lens

• These lenses are made of

magnets capable of bending the
path of electrons. By doing so, the
lenses focus and control the
electron beam, ensuring that the
electrons end up precisely where
they need to go.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 Electron Detector

Attracts the electrons that bounce off

the sample and turns them into an
electrical current.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 Sample Chamber

The container at the end of the column

is called the Sample Chamber.
The sample stage and the electron
detector sit in here.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 EDX analysis in SEM
• EDX
Energy Dispersive X-Ray

• It is also used to provide

elemental identification and
quantitative . How?

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 • Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS or EDX)
is used in conjunction with scanning electron microscopy
(SEM). The EDS technique detects x-rays emitted from
the sample during bombardment (attack) by an electron
beam to characterize the elemental composition of the
analyzed volume.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 • When the sample is bombarded (attack) by the SEM's
electron beam, electrons are ejected from the atoms of
the sample's surface. The resulting electron vacancies
are filled by electrons from a higher state, and an x-ray is
emitted to balance the energy difference between the two
electrons' states.

• The x-ray energy is characteristic of the element from

which it was emitted.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 • EDS x-ray = is the detector measures the relative abundance of emitted x-
rays.

• When an incident x-ray strikes the detector, it creates a charge pulse that
is proportional to the energy of the x-ray.

• The charge pulse is converted to a voltage pulse by a charge-sensitive

preamplifier.

• The signal is then sent to a multichannel analyzer where the pulses are
sorted by voltage. The energy, as determined from the voltage
measurement, for each incident x-ray is sent to a computer for display and
further data evaluation. The spectrum of x-ray energy versus counts is
evaluated to determine the elemental composition of the sampled volume.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 SEM/EDX analyses

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS
 Conclusion:

1)The principles of SEM and the important parts of it were

learned.

2)EDX analysis in SEM and its application was discussed.

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS

 THANK YOU

SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EMM3122 – ENGINEERING MATERIALS