Transmission EELS attachment for SEM

At present transmission electron energy loss spectrum (EELS) analysis is only carried out in transmission electron microscopes, such as transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) or scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEMs). Although elemental analysis can be done in scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) with EDX, its energy-resolution is typically limited between 100 ∼ 150eV, nearly two orders of magnitude larger than the energy resolution of EELS in TEMs/STEMs. This paper presents an EELS attachment for conventional SEMs. K edge and EELS low loss spectrum of a thin amorphous carbon film are obtained in a Philips XL30 field emission SEM. The EELS attachment has the capability of acquiring structural information and 4 eV energy resolution at 30keV primary beam energy.