ELECTRON-OPTICAL APPARATUS

摘要

There is provided an electron-optical an electron probe microanalyser, comprising a cold cathode electron source beam, a sample holder (22) and imaging optics (26), wherein the apparatus further comprises a vacuum chamber (10) containing, and surrounding both the sample holder (22) and the imaging optics (26). By placing the imaging optics (26) and the sample holder within the vacuum chamber (10), the physical distance from the imaging optics (26) to the sample is reduced (24). This ensures that shorter exposure times are needed to obtain the same quality image or spectra as prior art systems which have greater distances between the imaging optics and the sample holder. The effects of vibration are substantially reduced because of the shorter exposure times needed.