Specimen-thickness effects on transmission Kikuchi patterns in the scanning electron microscope

Published

March 24, 2014

Author(s)

Katherine P. Rice, Robert R. Keller, Mark Stoykovich

Abstract

We report the effects of varying specimen thickness onthe generation of transmission Kikuchi patterns in the scanning electron microscope. Diffraction patterns sufficient for automated indexing were observed from films spanning nearly three orders of magnitude in thickness in several materials, from 5nm of hafnium dioxide to 3 μm of aluminum, corresponding to a mass-thickness range of 5 to 810 μg cm–2. The scattering events that are most likely to be detected in transmission are shown to be very near the exit surface of the films. The energies, spatial distribution and trajectories of the electrons that are transmitted through the film and are collected by the detector are predicted using Monte Carlo simulations.

Citation

Journal of Microscopy

Volume

254

Issue

3

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12124

Keywords

t-EBSD, scanning electron microscopy, diffraction, semiconductors, thin films

Citation

Rice, K. , Keller, R. and Stoykovich, M. (2014), Specimen-thickness effects on transmission Kikuchi patterns in the scanning electron microscope, Journal of Microscopy, [online], https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12124 (Accessed October 8, 2025)