The issue of beam-induced damage while performing S/TEM often doesn't receive the attention that it deserves. The reality is that it takes very little energy (few to 10s of eV) to cause "knock-on" damage (displacement of atoms/ions from equilibrium positions) in materials most commonly encountered in S/TEM of the physical sciences and the incident electrons have many times this much kinetic energy.
In this video (as always, recorded raw, unedited, unfiltered, uncensored, and uncut), I cover the basics of beam-induced damage, show an example of this occurring in real time in a pristine Si sample, and discuss strategies to mitigate the effects.
Always remember, you are always causing beam-induced damage when performing S/TEM; it's simply a matter of whether or not enough of it accumulates to be able to directly observe it.
Thanks for watching! Please like, subscribe, and share and leave any questions or comments you may have and I will do my best to reply as soon as possible. Video topic requests are always welcome and appreciated; I enjoy making these videos and wish I could make them more frequently, but the demands of my job make it tough to do so; I’m in charge of 3 S/TEMs, 2 dual FIB/SEM systems, and 1 SEM and this keeps me very busy!
Connect with me on LinkedIn:
/ nicholas-rudawski-3041...
Where I work:
rsc.aux.eng.ufl.edu/
E-mail me directly:
ngr@ufl.edu