Low-energy electron microscopy, or LEEM, is an analytical surface science technique used to image atomically clean surfaces, atom-surface interactions, and thin (crystalline) films.
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Low-energy electron microscopy in the context of Electron microscopy
An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it to produce magnified images or electron diffraction patterns. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times smaller than that of visible light, electron microscopes have a much higher resolution of about 0.1 nm, which compares to about 200 nm for light microscopes. Electron microscope may refer to:
- Transmission electron microscope (TEM) where swift electrons go through a thin sample
- Scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) which is similar to TEM with a scanned electron probe
- Scanning electron microscope (SEM) which is similar to STEM, but with thick samples
- Electron microprobe similar to a SEM, but more for chemical analysis
- Low-energy electron microscope (LEEM), used to image surfaces
- Photoemission electron microscope (PEEM) which is similar to LEEM using electrons emitted from surfaces by photons
Additional details can be found in the above links. This article contains some general information mainly about transmission and scanning electron microscopes.
Low-energy electron microscopy in the context of Photoemission electron microscopy
Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM, also called photoelectron microscopy, PEM) is a type of electron microscopy that utilizes local variations in electron emission to generate image contrast. The excitation is usually produced by ultraviolet light, synchrotron radiation or X-ray sources. PEEM measures the coefficient indirectly by collecting the emitted secondary electrons generated in the electron cascade that follows the creation of the primary core hole in the absorption process. PEEM is a surface sensitive technique because the emitted electrons originate from a shallow layer. In physics, this technique is referred to as PEEM, which goes together naturally with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM). In biology, it is called photoelectron microscopy (PEM), which fits with photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).