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Changes in particle area measurements due to SEM accelerating voltage and magnification
Author(s) -
Yañez María Julia,
Barbosa Silvia Elena
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.10309
Subject(s) - acceleration voltage , magnification , image analysis , materials science , voltage , calibration , particle (ecology) , scanning electron microscope , range (aeronautics) , optics , beam (structure) , line (geometry) , software , high voltage , digital image , cathode ray , image processing , physics , computer science , image (mathematics) , electron , artificial intelligence , composite material , mathematics , programming language , oceanography , geometry , quantum mechanics , geology
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of polymer blends followed by digital image analysis is a rapid and easy method for the measurement of particle size and dispersion. The particle size determination is done with appropriate off‐line image analysis software. However, it is necessary to understand how machine parameters involved in the formation of the SEM image influence area measurements of morphological features. In this work, the influence of the accelerating voltage used during image acquisition was examined with standard samples and with polymer blend samples. A systematic study centered on two mutually exclusive assumptions of area variation or no area variation with accelerating voltage was carried out. The off‐line image analysis software was then calibrated according to the assumptions. The main conclusion of this study was that kV has an important influence on area measurement in SEM images. This effect was observed for different standard materials (metallic and polymeric) and for the range of magnifications used. The higher the accelerating voltages, the greater the error at high magnification for polymer samples. As the beam energy increases, the primary electrons penetrate more deeply into the solid specimen, producing low‐resolution signals. These signals degrade the image and surface details, which became less well defined. Therefore, images of polymer samples must be taken at lower accelerating voltages so the desired surface details can be imaged clearly. To avoid area measurement errors, particle measurement must be done with the calibration of the off‐line image analysis software corresponding to the accelerating voltage and magnification used for the acquired images. Microsc. Res. Tech. 61:463–468, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.