Desktop SEM

SEMs are a key backbone of the semiconductor and many other industries. These systems make use of electrons in scan across the surface of a sample (like an old CRT) in order to image. Electrons have a far smaller wavelength than visible light which is critical as advanced devices are truly at the nanoscale. Such systems can provide additional useful information from the material due to generation of X-rays and other light. Conventionally these systems can be quite large in order to accommodate large sample sizes, as well as properly engineering the column for high extraction voltages.

A key tenant I try to work around is to have things as minimally sized as acceptable in order to avoid unwieldy space requirements. Additionally, the point is for further learning and device development which does not require large sample sizes, with this in mind a desktop sized SEM could be ideal. Desktop SEMs have to make some level of sacrifices in order to be shrunk down in size. These compromises often revolve around lower acceleration voltages, use of a backscatter rather than secondary electron detector, can only accommodate small samples, and can comparatively be more expensive.

I only work with small samples, and I can deal with having a resolution of 30 nm instead of 3 nm very easily, given the particular goals I have. I acquired a Gen1 Phenom FEI system from an auction site for a reasonable price, though it unfortunately has some issues.

To start, the top ribbon cable on the unit which provides for the front IO had somehow ripped. I was able to repair the connection by replacing the ribbon cable with manual wiring.

A custom power adapter had to be engineered along with an external diaphragm pump. Powering up the unit it would boot and even turn on the turbo pump, however it unfortunately would not give a proper display output. The unit actually makes use of a linux distro and a generic motherboard. Inspecting the board I was able to identify a bad capacitor, which I was able to perform the board level repair to replace. Upon replacing the capacitor the unit will now boot up and get past several loading screens though hangs on the final UI.

Right now I am actively delving into the code that runs the unit to determine root causes to inform me how to best proceed. I look forward to providing updates!