Search

Field Emission Microscopy - Trends and Perspectives

Melmed, A. J.

Abstract Microscopy came early to the science of surfaces, but somehow was neglected in the rush of effort applied to harvesting the many kinds of information made available by the various more popular methods of surface investigation. It is fair to consider that modern surface science originated with the impressive works of Irving Langmuir. The field grew rapidly in the late 1950s with the emerging commercial availability of reliable metal ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) apparatus, coupled with the newly simplified approach to low-energy-electron diffraction (LEED), and the rapid development of various surface spectroscopies, which attracted the majority of surface scientists to nonmicroscopic approaches to the study of surfaces. By that time, of course, optical microscopy was rather mature, electron microscopy was maturing rapidly and the field emission microscopies were experiencing a flurry (albeit of modest proportions) of activity. Optical microscopy generally was relegated to use as a test for surface smoothness by the metallographer in preparing a surface for subsequent surface study, or on a few occasions was used in an actual surface investigation. Electron microscopy was occasionally used in an investigation of surface phenomena. However, in general, neither of these microscopies was integrated into the UHV regime of the surface scientists of the 60s and 70s. Only in the past approximately five years have serious efforts been made to do electron microscopy in the UHV environment with the intention of studying surface phenomena.