6. Conclusion

Scanning electron microscopy is a powerful tool for observing surfaces. It is commonly used to image surfaces simultaneously from secondary electrons, with great depth of field and excellent separating power at magnifications of the order of 10 to 100,000 and more.

SEM images (SE, BSE, in-lens) can easily be combined with microanalyses and elemental mapping, obtained by X-ray spectrometry (EDS), such as orientation mapping (EBSD). These are all now digitized, and are particularly well suited to image processing.

A wide range of equipment is available, broadly classified into four families:

• conventional scanning electron microscopes (W filament or LaB6), where the entire column is placed in a high vacuum, and whose maximum performance depends above all on the type of electron source used;...