Digital imaging for scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

Abstract The development and application of digital imaging technology has been one of the major advancements in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) during the past several years. This digital revolution has been brought about by significant progress in semiconductor technology, notably the availability of less expensive, high‐density memory chips and the development of inexpensive, high‐speed, analog‐to‐digital and digital‐to‐analog converters, mass storage, and high‐performance central processing units. This paper reviews a number of the advantages presented by digital imaging as applied to the SEM and describes a system developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology for this purpose.