E. Oho et al., Image quality improvement using helium gas in low voltage variable pressure scanning electron microscopy, J ELEC MICR, 49(6), 2000, pp. 761-763
An effective combination of the low voltage and variable pressure (VP) scan
ning electron microscopy (SEM) are discussed. In low voltage VP-SEM, helium
gas is utilized for reducing the amount of scatter of the primary electron
beam. Most samples can receive various benefits obtained from the combinat
ion of low voltage and low vacuum observation. Compared to a back-scattered
electron (BSE) image in air, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a BSE image ta
ken with helium gas is 5.4 times under a pressure of 50 Pa and an accelerat
ing voltage of 1.5 kV.