New possibilities and some artifacts of the cathodoluminescent mode in scanning electron microscopy

Lightning inside the chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), caused by electrons being scattering from a sample (and parts of the chamber), is observed and analyzed. These electrons generate the luminescence in a Thornly–Everhart collector. This parasitic effect (artifact) must be considered and eliminated in all experiments with the cathodoluminescent (CL) mode of SEM. A new technique for measuring surface potential on dielectric samples is proposed. It is based on variations in the CL signal during electron irradiation of a sample in SEM.