Fig. 1

Scaled diagram of SBEM stage-biasing geometry for various configurations of SBEM and SBEM with deceleration. The aluminum pin with mounted sample sits inside a stainless steel holder. The holder is attached to a high-stability power supply to provide negative-biasing potential. The biased sample, sample pin and stainless steel holder are insulated in a machined ceramic holder. The diamond knife is held at ground potential. Since diamond is a poor conductor, no arcing occurs during cutting at voltages lower than 3.5 keV. The sample working distance is maintained at 6.6 mm during imaging on the FEI Quanta 200 and 8.8 mm on the Zeiss Sigma. a Setup for the conventional SBEM without deceleration. The SEs and BSEs propagate in straight lines without the effect of electric fields. b Layout for deceleration with the monolithic BSE detector. The SE and BSE signals are convolved in the detector, causing artifacts. c The SEs are collected in the central ring of the CBS detector. Since each ring has its own amplifier, the SEs and BSEs can be separated to provide pure BSE images. d Configuration used on a Zeiss Sigma. SEs are collected by an SE-blocking aperture connected to ground, while a pure BSE signal is collected by the Gatan monolithic BSE detector