Half semester course offered every summer!

Goal of the Course: Practical (safe) training with operation of the scanning electron microscope and fundamentals of scanning electron microscopy at the graduate level.

Textbook: "Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis" by J.I. Goldstein et al., 3rd edition, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers New York 2003.

Internet Resources: Training modules with interactive (virtual) tours over the components of the JSM-6400 instrument and tours demonstrating a safe preparation and operation of the instrument are available at the web site of the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory (link). Although the electronic training is supplementary to the lab training and introductory material discussed during the lectures, every student is asked to review the training modules. The modules contain the essence of the course that every student completing MY5200 needs to possess.

Lectures:

May 14:    Introduction: SEM and EPMA techniques (Chapter 1)

May 16:     Design and operating principles of the scanning electron microscope; basic components of the instrument; E-T detector (Sections 2.1 and 4.3)

May 18:    Brief overview of sample preparation techniques commonly used at MSE (Chapters 10 & 11)

May 21:    Review of students’ samples: discussion on sample preparation

May 23:    Electron sources and electron lenses (Sections 2.2-2.3)

May 25:    Analogy between optical microscopy and SEM; electron probe diameter and current: control and effects on image resolution, depth of field, and its quality (Sections 2.3-2.4)

May 28:    Memorial Day

May 30:    Inelastic and elastic interactions of electrons with solids (Sections 3.1-3.3)

June 1:    Imaging signals from the interaction volume (Section 3.4)

June 4:     Image formation and interpretation: magnification, pixel size, depth of field (Section 4.2)  

June 6:    Topographic and compositional contrasts; image quality (Sections 4.4-4.5)

June 8:     High-resolution imaging; stereomicroscopy, environmental SEM (Chapter 5.1-5.6)   

June 11:    Repetition of/discussion on selected topic(s) covered in previous lectures    

June 13:    X-ray signal production, collection, and processing (Chapter 6)

June 15:    Operating principles of EDS SEM x-ray signals systems (Section 7.2)

June 18:    Operating principles of WDS SEM x-ray signals systems (Section 7.3)

June 20:    Qualitative analysis of X-ray spectra (Chapter 8)

June 22:    Quantitative compositional analysis of x-ray spectra (Chapter 9)

June 25:    Calculation of ZAF correction factors (Chapter 9)

June 27:    X-ray mapping (Section 10.6)

June 29:    Summary of the course

Laboratories (subject to modification):

1. Training with the Scanning Electron Microscope (JD)

2. Control over Electron Beam Parameters (JD)

3. Stereomicroscopy (OM)

4. EDS Spectrometry (JD)

5. Qualitative and Quantitative EDS (JD)

6. Spatial Resolution for Chemical Analysis and X-Ray Mapping (OM)

7. Practical Exam (JD)

Laboratory component of the course begins in the first week and the last lab in the sixth week.  The laboratory sessions of the seventh week are used for practical exam. 

Each student is obligated to print a copy of the JSM-6400 Operators Manual, brief start-up procedure,  and lab instruction and bring them to a lab session.  The "brief start-up procedure" MUST be used during each lab session.

Lab reports are due at the beginning of the next lab session. Any delay will result in deduction of points; 20% per day. The student is expected to turn in a typed, college-level lab report with the following sections: Introduction, Experimental Methods, Results and Discussion (including answers to all questions listed in the the lab instruction), Conclusions, and References (if used in the preparation of the report). 

All students who intend to use the SEM in research after the completion of this course, must take and pass the practical exam. 

Grading:

* each student will work on his/her own project related to MS/PhD program from the 2nd week of the course that must include imaging/characterization of selected sample with the SEM instrument and interpretation of the results. The topic and scope of the project will be selected by the student in consultation with advisor of his/her thesis/dissertation program and the instructor of this course.