2012/07/17 by R.F. Egerton · 1 citation
Engineering · Materials Science · #Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques #Integrated Circuits and Semiconductor Failure Analysis #Ion-surface interactions and analysis
paper · doi:10.1002/jemt.22099
openalex publication_date 2012/07/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Ionization damage (radiolysis) and knock-on displacement are compared in terms of scattering cross section and stopping power, for thin organic specimens exposed to the electrons in a TEM. Based on stopping power, which includes secondary processes, radiolysis is found to be predominant for all incident energies (10-300 keV), even in materials containing hydrogen. For conducting inorganic specimens, knock-on displacement is the only damage mechanism but an electron dose exceeding 1000 C cm(-2) is usually required. Ways of experimentally determining the damage mechanism (with a view to minimizing damage) are discussed.