Investigation of the Effect of Structural Properties of a Vertically Standing CNT Cold Cathode on Electron Beam Brightness and Resolution of Secondary Electron Images.

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-based cold cathodes are promising sources of field emission electrons for advanced electron devices, particularly for ultra-high-resolution imaging systems, due to their high brightness and low energy spread. While the electron field emission properties of single-tip CNT cathodes have been intensively studied in the last few decades, a systematic study of the influencing factors on the electron beam properties of CNT cold cathodes and the resolution of the secondary electron images has been overlooked in this field. Here, we have systematically investigated the effect of the structural properties of a CNT cold cathode on the electron beam properties and resolution of secondary electron microscope (SEM) images. The aspect ratio (geometric factor) and the diameter of the tip of a vertically standing CNT cold cathode significantly affect the electron beam properties, including the beam size and brightness, and consequently determine the resolution of the secondary electron images obtained by SEM systems equipped with a CNT cold cathode module. Theoretical simulation elucidated the dependence of the structural features of CNT cold cathodes and electron beam properties on the contribution of edge-emitted electrons to the total field emission current. Investigating the correlations between the structural properties of CNT cold cathodes, the properties of the emitted electron beams, and the resolution of the secondary electron images captured by SEM equipped with CNT cold cathode modules is highly important and informative as a basic model.

Study and design of a lens-type retarding field energy analyzer without a grid electrode.

A retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) for measuring the energy distribution of charged particles offers the advantages of a simple structure and suitability for simultaneous observations of beam patterns in two dimensions. In this study, lens-based RFEAs without a grid electrode were theoretically investigated with regard to the geometry and lens condition to achieve high performance. The simulation results show that the proposed RFEA can achieve a resolution of 2.6 meV at an energy level of 500 eV. In addition, performance, which is the ratio of the resolution to the beam energy, reached 5.2×10-6. These results indicate that the RFEA designed in this study is capable of high-performance outcomes. The findings here demonstrate that the most important factors when attempting to realize a high-resolution RFEA design are to reduce the sagging effect of the electron beam through the focusing lens and ensure that V″(z) in the retarding electrode is close to zero. The design of the lens-based RFEAs is described in detail.

Fabrication of a trimer/single atom tip for gas field ion sources by means of field evaporation without tip heating.

A gas field ion source (GFIS) has many advantages that are suitable for ion microscope sources, such as high brightness and a small virtual source size, among others. In order to apply a tip-based GFIS to an ion microscope, it is better to create a trimer/single atom tip (TSAT), where the ion beam must be generated in several atoms of the tip apex. Here, unlike the conventional method which uses tip heating or a reactive gas, we show that the tip surface can be cleaned using only the field evaporation phenomenon and that the TSAT can also be fabricated using an insulating layer containing tungsten oxide, which remains after electrochemical etching. Using this method, we could get TSAT over 90% of yield.

Graphene-supporting films and low-voltage STEM in SEM toward imaging nanobio materials without staining: Observation of insulin amyloid fibrils.

Utilization of graphene-supporting films and low-voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy (LV-STEM) in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is shown to be an effective means of observing unstained nanobio materials. Insulin amyloid fibrils, which are implicated as a cause of type II diabetes, are formed in vitro and observed without staining at room temperature. An in-lens cold field-emission SEM, equipped with an additional homemade STEM detector, provides dark field (DF)-STEM images in the low energy range of 5-30keV, together with secondary electron (SE) images. Analysis based on Lenz's theory is used to interpret the experimental results. Graphene films, where the fibrils are deposited, reduce the background level of the STEM images compared with instances when conventional amorphous carbon films are used. Using 30keV, which is lower than that for conventional TEM (100-300keV), together with low detection angles (15-55mrad) enhances the signals from the fibrils. These factors improve image quality, which enables observation of thin fibrils with widths of 7-8nm. STEM imaging clearly reveals a twisted-ribbon structure of a fibril, and SE imaging shows an emphasized striped pattern of the fibril. The LV-STEM in SEM enables acquisition of two types of images of an identical fibril in a single instrument, which is useful for understanding the structure. This study expands the application of SEM to other systems of interest, which is beneficial to a large number of users. The method in this study can be applied to the observation of various nanobio materials and analysis of their native structures, thus contributing to research in materials and life sciences.

Edge shadow projection method for measuring the brightness of electron guns.

The performance of an electron gun is evaluated in terms of the gun brightness. The brightness of an electron gun is typically measured by dividing the angular current density by the virtual source area. An electron gun brightness measurement system was constructed without an electron lens. The system consists of movable apertures (∅ 30, 50, 100, 200 µm), a Faraday cup, and a phosphor screen. The Faraday cup is employed to measure the angular current density. The electron beam passes through an aperture and its shade is projected onto the phosphor screen. The virtual source position is determined by measuring the displacement of the aperture shade made by the movement of the aperture. The blurring width of the edge of the shadow on the screen is measured by a charged-coupled device camera to calculate the virtual source size. Brightness values of a tungsten filament electron gun were obtained and compared to reported values.

Electromechanical Properties and Spontaneous Response of the Current in InAsP Nanowires.

The electromechanical properties of ternary InAsP nanowires (NWs) were investigated by applying a uniaxial tensile strain in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The electromechanical properties in our examined InAsP NWs were governed by the piezoresistive effect. We found that the electronic transport of the InAsP NWs is dominated by space-charge-limited transport, with a I ∞ V2 relation. Upon increasing the tensile strain, the electrical current in the NWs increases linearly, and the piezoresistance gradually decreases nonlinearly. By analyzing the space-charge-limited I-V curves, we show that the electromechanical response is due to a mobility that increases with strain. Finally, we use dynamical measurements to establish an upper limit on the time scale for the electromechanical response.

Measurement of Outgassing Rates of Steels.

Steels are commonly used materials in the fabrication of vacuum systems because of their good mechanical, corrosion, and vacuum properties. A variety of steels meet the criterion of low outgassing required for high or ultrahigh vacuum applications. However, a given material can present different outgassing rates depending on its manufacturing process or the various pretreatment processes involved during the fabrication. Thus, the measurement of outgassing rates is highly desirable for a specific vacuum application. For this reason, the rate-of-pressure rise (RoR) method is often used to measure the outgassing of hydrogen after bakeout. In this article, a detailed description of the design and execution of the experimental protocol involved in the RoR method is provided. The RoR method uses a spinning rotor gauge to minimize errors that stem from outgassing or the pumping action of a vacuum gauge. The outgassing rates of two ordinary steels (stainless steel and mild steel) were measured. The measurements were made before and after the heat pretreatment of the steels. The heat pretreatment of steels was performed to reduce the outgassing. Extremely low rates of outgassing (on the order of 10-11 Pa m3 sec-1 m-2) can be routinely measured using relatively small samples.

Note: O-ring stack system for electron gun alignment.

We present a reliable method for aligning an electron gun which consists of an electron source and lenses by controlling a stack of rubber O-rings in a vacuum condition. The beam direction angle is precisely tilted along two axes by adjusting the height difference of a stack of O-rings. In addition, the source position is shifted in each of three orthogonal directions. We show that the tilting angle and linear shift along the x and y axes as obtained from ten stacked O-rings are ±2.55° and ±2 mm, respectively. This study can easily be adapted to charged particle gun alignment and adjustments of the flange position in a vacuum, ensuring that its results can be useful with regard to electrical insulation between flanges with slight modifications.

W(310) cold-field emission characteristics reflecting the vacuum states of an extreme high vacuum electron gun.

An extremely high vacuum cold-field electron emission (CFE) gun operating at pressures ranging from ~10(-8) Pa to ~10(-10) Pa was constructed. Only the CFE current emitting from W(310) surfaces revealed the existence of a "stable region" with high current angular density just after tip flash heating. In the "stable region," the CFE current was damped very slowly. The presence of non-hydrogen gas eliminated this region from the plot. Improvement of the vacuum prolonged the 90% damping time of the CFE current from ~10 min to 800 min. The current angular density I' of CFE current was 60 and 250 µA/sr in the "stable region" for total CFE currents of 10 and 50 µA, respectively. These results were about three times larger than I' when measured after the complete damping of the CFE current. The CFE gun generated bright scanning transmission electron microscopy images of a carbon nanotube at 30 kV.