Premium
New attempt to combine scanning electron microscopy and small‐angle scattering in reciprocal space
Author(s) -
Koizumi Satoshi,
Ueda Satoru,
Nishikawa Yukihiro,
Terao Takeshi,
Kubo Norio
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s1600576719009208
Subject(s) - reciprocal lattice , scattering , optics , fourier transform , materials science , biological small angle scattering , physics , molecular physics , computational physics , neutron scattering , small angle neutron scattering , diffraction , quantum mechanics
An attempt has been made to combine small‐angle scattering of X‐rays or neutrons with scanning electron microscopy in reciprocal space, in order to establish a structural analysis method covering a wide range of sizes from micro‐ to macro‐scales. A system with a binary contrast, in which scattering objects with a homogeneous density are dispersed in vacuum (or air), is considered. A topological surface image, detected by secondary electron emission, is converted by means of a Fourier transform into a two‐dimensional scattering amplitude in reciprocal space. The method was first tested by studying a dilute system of monodisperse SiO 2 particles, with respect to calibrations for brightness inversion, noise reduction and two‐dimensional Fourier transform, to obtain a scattering amplitude that agrees well with the analytical amplitude for a spherical particle. Secondly, the microstructure of a carbon‐supported Pt catalyst for polymer electrolyte fuel cell applications was examined with the combined method, covering length scales from 10 µm down to nanometres. After two‐dimensional Fourier transformation, the secondary electron emission images with low magnification are able to overcome the limitation of the minimum wavenumber ( q min ) detectable by ultra‐small‐angle scattering.