Electron‐count imaging in SEM

We propose a method and a system for counting secondary electrons and for displaying micrographs from the SEM in real time. Evaluating the images obtained by the new system, we confirm that electron counting images have a higher signal to noise ratio than analogue images. This tendency is remarkable when the secondary electron signal is weak. We present the method and show experimental results obtained with our novel system for the detection of the secondary electron signal.