Comparison of electron sources for high‐resolution Auger spectroscopy in an SEM

摘要

The effect of primary beam current and electron spot size on the Auger image resolution and signal‐to‐noise ratio (S/N) have been determined for field emission and thermionic emission sources. It is demonstrated that by use of a FE source and nA primary beam currents, an Auger image resolution of less than 1000 A˚ can be obtained. The major limitation to Auger spatial resolution is attributed to backscattered electrons. A LaB6source is clearly superior to FE sources at primary beam currents of greater than 1×10−8A.