Experimental investigation on the influence of instrument settings on pixel size and nonlinearity in SEM image formation

The work deals with an experimental investigation on the influence of three Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) instrument settings, accelerating voltage, spot size and magnification, on the image formation process. Pixel size and nonlinearity were chosen as output parameters related to image quality and resolution.

A silicon grating calibrated artifact was employed to investigate qualitatively and quantitatively, through a designed experiment approach, the parameters relevance. SEM magnification was found to account by far for the largest contribution on both parameters under consideration. Optimal instrument settings were also identified.