Microminiaturization of electron optical systems

The performance of miniaturized electron optical systems comprising a field emission microsource and a microlens for probe forming has been studied. A complete system measuring millimeters in length and diameter with performance exceeding that of a conventional system over a wide range of potentials (100 V–10 kV) and working distances (up to 10 mm) appears to be feasible. A scanning tunneling microscope aligned field emission microsource offers performance well suited for this application and a selective scaling approach has been developed to allow a wide range of potentials to be applied. Such miniaturized systems can be of significant importance to many areas of electron‐beam applications.