Comparative study of image contrast in scanning electron microscope and helium ion microscope

© 2017 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2017 Royal Microscopical Society Images of Ga+-implanted amorphous silicon layers in a 110 n-type silicon substrate have been collected by a range of detectors in a scanning electron microscope and a helium ion microscope. The effects of the implantation dose and imaging parameters (beam energy, dwell time, etc.) on the image contrast were investigated. We demonstrate a similar relationship for both the helium ion microscope Everhart-Thornley and scanning electron microscope Inlens detectors between the contrast of the images and the Ga+density and imaging parameters. These results also show that dynamic charging effects have a significant impact on the quantification of the helium ion microscope and scanning electron microscope contrast.