5/17/2015

FieldEmissionScanningElectronMicroscopeEarnsMilestoneIEEETheInstitute

Home(/)/TechFocus(/technologyfocus)/Techhistory(/technologyfocus/technologyhistory)

FieldEmissionScanningElectronMicroscopeEarnsMilestone
Thedevelopmentmadepossiblehighresolutionimaging
ByANIAMONACO20January2012
ThismonthIEEEishonoringan
inventionthateventuallyledto
theinitialobservationoftheAIDS
virus,amongmanyother
contributions.Thefirstpractical
fieldemissionscanningelectron
microscope(FESEM),developed
byHitachiincollaborationwith
physicistAlbertCrewein1972,
madepossiblereliableultrahigh
resolutionimaging.
Electronmicroscopesletus
observecellsand
microorganisms,largemolecules,
biopsysamples,metalsand
crystallinestructures,andthe
Photo:Hitachi
characteristicsofvarious
surfaces.Theyreusedinindustryforqualitycontrolandfailureanalysis,amongotherapplications.
Torecognizethebreakthrough,IEEEnamedHitachisFESEManIEEEMilestoneinElectricalEngineeringand
Computing.

SIMULT ANE OUSE FFORT S

Hitachisresearchonelectronmicroscopes,whichuseabeamofelectronstoilluminatethespecimenand
produceamagnifiedimage,begancloseto70yearsago.In1942,HitachidevelopedJapansfirstcommercial
electronmicroscope.Thecompanythenworkedfordecadestoimprovethetechnology.
Butothers,includingCrewe,whointheearly1960swasdirectorofArgonneNationalLaboratory,inDowners
GroveTownship,Ill.,werealsomakingadvancesinmicroscopy.Crewehadbecomeinterestedinelectron
microscopybecauseofhislabsextensivebiologyprogram.Hewantedtoimprovethemicroscopicimagesthat
weresointegraltobiologistsresearch.Hecameupwithadesignforamicroscopethatscansasamplewitha
highenergybeamofelectronsinarectangular,lineatatimepattern.Duetothenarrowelectronbeam,scanning
electronmicroscopeimageshavealargedepthoffield,producingacharacteristicthreedimensionalappearance
usefulforunderstandingasamplesstructure.
CrewesetupagroupatArgonnetoturnhisconceptintoreality,andin1963theresearchersmadeafunctioning
device.Ayearlater,hedevelopedthefirstfieldemission(FE)gun,whichimprovedtheelectronmicroscopes
opticalquality.Thegunproducedanelectronbeamsmallerindiameterandwithgreatercurrentdensityand
brightnessthancouldbeachievedbyconventionalthermionicemitterswhichreliedontheheatinducedflowof
http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technologyfocus/technologyhistory/fieldemissionscanningelectronmicroscopeearnsmilestone

1/3

5/17/2015

FieldEmissionScanningElectronMicroscopeEarnsMilestoneIEEETheInstitute

chargecarriersfromasurface.Thegunalsoimprovedsignaltonoiseratioandspatialresolution.

BE T T E RFOCUS
Crewewantedtospendmoretimeresearchingmicroscopy,soheleftArgonnein1967tobecomeaprofessorof
physicsattheUniversityofChicago.In1970,hedevelopedanFEscanningtransmissionelectronmicroscope
andusedittoobserveindividualatoms.(CrewewasntthefirsttodosothecreditgoestoGermanphysicist
ErwinWilhelmMuller,whoinventedanFEelectronmicroscopein1936.)Inthemeantime,Hitachihadbecome
interestedinCrewesworkandhiredhimasaconsultant.Duringthenextfewyears,hecollaboratedwithHitachi
toenhanceandcommercializethemicroscope.Amongthegreatestchallengesindevelopingacommercial
versionwasovercomingtheinstabilityofFEelectroncurrents.Hitachiovercamethathurdlewithultrahigh
vacuumtechnology,andin1972thecompanycompletedtheworldsfirstcommercialFESEM.
Themicroscopesimageresolutionwasvastlysuperiortoothersatthetime,capableofcapturingfeaturesas
smallas3nanometers,comparedwiththeprevious15nm.
TheFESEMsinitialapplicationwastobiology,anditcapturedthefirsthighresolutionimagesof
T2bacteriophages,virusesthatinfectE.colibacteria.Moredetailedimagesofbacteriophageswereproducedin
theearly1980swiththeadditionofmicroprocessorcontrol,whichmadeultrahighresolutionpossibleata
subnanometerscale.ThatcapabilityalsoledtothefirstobservationoftheAIDSvirus,in1985atTottori
UniversityinTokyo.
AceremonyfortheMilestoneistobeheldon31January,withplaquesunveiledattwoHitachiresearch
laboratoriesinTokyo.Theplaquesread:
HitachidevelopedpracticalfieldemissionelectronsourcetechnologyincollaborationwithAlbertCrewe
oftheUniversityofChicago,andcommercializedtheworldsfirstfieldemissionscanningelectron
microscopein1972.Thistechnologyenabledstableandreliableultrahighresolutionimagingwitheasy
operation.Fieldemissionelectronmicroscopeshavemadeinvaluablecontributionstotheprogressof
science,technology,andindustryinphysics,biology,materials,andsemiconductordevices.

FormoreinformationaboutthisandotherIEEEMilestones,visittheIEEEGlobalHistoryNetwork
(http://ghn.ieee.org/wiki/index.php/Special:Home).
Related
Story
FluorescenceMicroscopeLandsPresidents'ScholarshipforTeen(/careerandeducation/preuniversity
education/fluorescencemicroscopelandsbrpresidentsscholarshipforteen100)

MorefromTheInstitute
BigNewsaboutSmallDevices(/benefits/conferences/bignewsaboutsmalldevices697)
PocketMicroscopes(/people/profiles/pocketmicroscopes616)

TransistorHonoredWithaMilestone(/video/technologyfocus/technologyhistory/transistorhonoredwitha
http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technologyfocus/technologyhistory/fieldemissionscanningelectronmicroscopeearnsmilestone

2/3

5/17/2015

FieldEmissionScanningElectronMicroscopeEarnsMilestoneIEEETheInstitute

milestone)

Edison'sPearlStreetStationRecognizedWithMilestone(/technologyfocus/technologyhistory/edisonspearl
streetstationrecognizedwithmilestone810)

LearnMoreIEEEhistorycenter(/tag/IEEE+history+center)biomedical(/tag/biomedical)microscopes
(/tag/microscopes)milestones(/tag/milestones)techhistory(/tag/tech+history)

http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technologyfocus/technologyhistory/fieldemissionscanningelectronmicroscopeearnsmilestone

3/3