Like many scientific and technical equipment such as voltage transducer, current probe and XRF Analyzer, scanning electron microscope come in many shapes and forms and also varying levels of accuracy and intricacy.
There are many factors to consider when buying a scanning electron microscope.
Here's a short guide on buying:
Before venturing into the guide, the three questions one should have when buying a scanning electron microscope include whether the samples need to be viewed in their natural state, the minimum resolution needed to observe the features of interest on the sample and how large samples need be enlarged.
The nature of your application is very important, in addition to asking questions relating to timing and budget. Determining the right application helps identify the right type of equipment, whether you are considering purchasing voltage transducer, current probe, scanning electron microscope or an XRF analyzer.
The choice of the type of emitter is definitely an important one when buying a SEM. There are three types of emitters, namely field emission (FE), tungsten (W), and lanthanum hexaboride. These are the sources used for electron emission. Detecting these electrons is done using three methods including standard Everhart-Thornley (E-T) detector, an upper detector, or a backscattered electron (BSE) detector.
If you are looking for a SEM for high-end nanotechnology applications for instance viewing individual carbon nanotubes or advanced semiconductor devices, you will need a SEM with an upper detector.
LAB SEMs may also need to view samples at higher accelerating voltages. This might require coating the sample with a thin metallic layer.
However, the need to do this coating reduces in FE-SEMs because FE-SEMs can image the samples at very low accelerating voltages. Otherwise, you can view samples in their natural state without coating, on a LaB SEM by using a BSE detector combined with control of vacuum pressure.
This method, will, however, lower the resolution. Today, VP FE-SEMs are applied to deal with this problem of compromising on resolution.
Of course, the resolution is a factor you consider when choosing a SEM because various applications have various resolution requirements.
Price is at the center of the resolution factor although price is also a factor of automation, chamber size, and optional SEM accessories, such as an elemental dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) system. Resolution affects the price greatly. The resolution a SEM provides at low-accelerating voltages determine its selling price.
Price is higher with the more the SEM gets closer to 1 nanometer.
There are many factors to consider when buying a scanning electron microscope.
Here's a short guide on buying:
Before venturing into the guide, the three questions one should have when buying a scanning electron microscope include whether the samples need to be viewed in their natural state, the minimum resolution needed to observe the features of interest on the sample and how large samples need be enlarged.
The nature of your application is very important, in addition to asking questions relating to timing and budget. Determining the right application helps identify the right type of equipment, whether you are considering purchasing voltage transducer, current probe, scanning electron microscope or an XRF analyzer.
The choice of the type of emitter is definitely an important one when buying a SEM. There are three types of emitters, namely field emission (FE), tungsten (W), and lanthanum hexaboride. These are the sources used for electron emission. Detecting these electrons is done using three methods including standard Everhart-Thornley (E-T) detector, an upper detector, or a backscattered electron (BSE) detector.
If you are looking for a SEM for high-end nanotechnology applications for instance viewing individual carbon nanotubes or advanced semiconductor devices, you will need a SEM with an upper detector.
LAB SEMs may also need to view samples at higher accelerating voltages. This might require coating the sample with a thin metallic layer.
However, the need to do this coating reduces in FE-SEMs because FE-SEMs can image the samples at very low accelerating voltages. Otherwise, you can view samples in their natural state without coating, on a LaB SEM by using a BSE detector combined with control of vacuum pressure.
This method, will, however, lower the resolution. Today, VP FE-SEMs are applied to deal with this problem of compromising on resolution.
Of course, the resolution is a factor you consider when choosing a SEM because various applications have various resolution requirements.
Price is at the center of the resolution factor although price is also a factor of automation, chamber size, and optional SEM accessories, such as an elemental dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) system. Resolution affects the price greatly. The resolution a SEM provides at low-accelerating voltages determine its selling price.
Price is higher with the more the SEM gets closer to 1 nanometer.
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