Electron Microscopy: An Integral Tool in Mechanical Testing and Failure Analysis

摘要

For decades, microscopy has been one of the failure analysts' most powerful tools in determining the causes of failure in a wide variety of materials. As manmade materials have evolved from the macroscale to the micro, nano and even picoscale, the need for higher resolution microscopy techniques have been required. Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) are one of the most powerful, versatile tools for scientists due to their large depth of field (compared to light microscopes), high spatial resolution (high magnification) and analytical capabilities (energy dispersive X-ray, or EDS and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy, or WDS) for chemical analysis. Another part of their flexibility is the ability to add a variety of electrical, mechanical, and chemical test equipment to them making the microscope a self contained "micro laboratory."