Analysis and Calibration of Electron-Dispersive Spectroscope and Scanning Electron Microscope Parameters to Improve their Results

Abstract: The Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Electron-Dispersive Spectroscope (EDS) are two highly effective instruments in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The quality of these instruments is determined by various factors, with high resolution being a crucial one. To determine the practically achievable resolution of the SEM, reference materials such as gold particles on carbon substrate are commonly utilized. On the other hand, high demanding, and usual materials such as brass, aluminum oxide or MEMs are of high importance to be considered in the way of improving material characterization. In this study five different samples were analyzed in four steps to see the effect of astigmatism and aperture misalignment, the mirror effect on the charged uncoated sample in backscattered electron (BSE) and secondary electron (SE) images, compositional and topographical analysis using both qualitative and quantitative methods and finally apply all the steps on a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device. This study illustrates the possibility of controlling the mirror effect by adjusting the input parameters even in the cases that the user needs to have low accelerating voltage for the experiment. Besides, the discussion addresses possible reasons for the absence of some peaks in EDS analysis for some specific elements.