Making the invisible visible
Electron microscopy: disclosing great details of small worlds.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is an essential technique in today’s analysis of materials and microsystems; it is also widely used in the field of biomedical research. Within Philips Research SEM equipment is used in the fields of material analysis and nanometer measurements for nano- and micro device development.

SEM within Philips Research The images that can be made by means of electron microscopes enable a resolution down to 1 nm, whereas a modern light microscope has a resolution of just less than 100 nm. Philips has been active in the field of electron microscopy since the mid-1930s. In 1949 its first electron microscope became commercially available. Since 1997, the electron microscopy business of Philips has been a part of the FEI Company. Nowadays, at Philips Research SEM is an important analysis technique.

In the cleanroom of Thin Film Facilities of the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, two SEMs are available for internal and external cleanroom users:

• XL50 SFEG til 8 inch Si-wafers

• XL40 FEG til 6 inch Si-wafers

For high performance work a SEM specialist is available to fully exploit the potential of the equipment. The work comprises the investigation of nano- and microdevices, like ICs, sensors, optical components, displays, MEMS devices, uncoated plastic and glass samples and test structures.
For his work, a third instrument, a Nova nanoSEM 600, is used as a Ultra-High-Resolution microscope to look at materials and structures and to measure the dimensions of patterns.