"scanning Technique"

Major improvements in instrumentation and specimen preparation have brought SEM to the fore as a biological imaging technique. In FESEM, a field-emission cathode placed in the electron gun of a scanning electron microscope provides narrower probing beams and high electron energy. The result is improved spatial resolution and minimized sample charging and damage. Images produced are less destroyed and have a spatial resolution down to 1.5 nm, three to six times better than conventional SEM.

Scanning Probe Lithography (SPL) describes recent advances in the field of scanning probe lithography, a high resolution patterning technique that uses a sharp tip in close proximity to a sample to pattern nanometer-scale features on the sample. SPL is capable of patterning sub-30nm features with nanometer-scale alignment registration. It is a relatively simple, inexpensive, reliable method for patterning nanometer-scale features on various substrates. It has potential applications for nanometer-scale research, for maskless semiconductor lithography, and for photomask patterning.
The authors of this book have been key players in this exciting new field. Calvin Quate has been involved since the beginning in the early 1980s and leads the research time that is regarded as the foremost group in this field.