It is only thirteen years since the scanning electron microscope has
been available commercially. Yet, even in this short period of time, this
instrument has been a powerful tool in the investigation of topography, electrical
and magnetic properties, crystal structure, cathodoluminescent characteristics
etc. of solid specimens.
Today, this type of microscope has opened its place alongside the conventional
trunsmission electron microscope in most biological and physical
laboratories and its applications is extending everyday.
This article is a review of the scanning electron microscope, the way
it works, the types of contrast that can be detected and of the mechanisms
that give rise to them and also some of its applications in materials science
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