Advanced Materials Characterization Chapter 4 SEM and Integrated Analyses

Advanced Materials Characterization Chapter 4 - by Igor Bello

Properties of materials can be studied with diverse microscopies including optical microscopy, electron microscopy, and different scanning probe microscopies. The microscopic characterization can be complemented with compositional and structural analysis using different spectroscopies.

Electron microscopy (EM) uses interaction of electron beam probes with the surfaces of solid samples to induce various electronic and optical signals. The collected signal is then electronically processed to visualize surface topography and other properties of surfaces and sub-surfaces using integrated and associated analytic techniques.

EM in various forms has developed into the major characterization techniques to analyze solid materials in material engineering, chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical and medical materials, and semiconductor devices. Mostly, EM searches for topographical information, while spectroscopy is used in phase and chemical analysis. Microscopy and spectroscopy complement each other. Only by looking at the surface details and their chemical nature and structure, the analytical data can be interpreted with confidence.