Research & Development: Scanning Electron Microscope

A Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) applies an electron beam to generate secondary electron and backscattered electron images of a sample, and provides detailed surface information including topography, morphology, composition, and crystallography.

A field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) uses a field-emission electron gun that provides narrower probing beams at low as well as high electron energy, resulting in both improved spatial resolution and minimized sample charging and damage compared to a regular SEM. Therefore, the FESEM offers ultra high resolution secondary electron imaging of a variety of samples. It can achieve magnifications that range from 25x to approximately 1,000,000X and has excellent depth of field.

Our JEOL (JSM-7500F) FESEM is specifically suited for high-magnification investigation of catalyst surface features at the micro-scale, as well as in traditional metallurgical applications where lower magnifications are needed. With the addition of an Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) detector, the FESEM capabilities have been expanded to include elemental analysis of the sample being imaged.

Capabilities:

• Handling large samples up to 101.6 mm diameter x 40 mm height
• Secondary electron image generation for high-resolution images
• Backscattered electron image generation for images with atomic number contrast
• Chemical composition, both qualitative and quantitative
• Mapping of an image to show locations of selected elements of interest

Applications:

• Metallurgical investigations of steam side oxidation, stress corrosion cracking, creep, fatigue, brittle fracture, failure analysis, etc.
• Catalyst surface characterization including pore size distribution, dispersion of active ingredients, deactivation mechanism interpretation, ingredient optimization, etc.
• Wet scrubber limestone, gypsum , and fly ash analysis
• Identification and analysis of surface contaminants

For more information, please contact us.