This book has evolved by processes of selection and expansion from its
predecessor, Practical Scanning Electron Microscopy (PSEM), published by
Plenum Press in 1975. The interaction of the authors with students at
the Short Course on Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis
held annually at Lehigh University has helped greatly in developing this
textbook. The material has been chosen to provide a student with a
general introduction to the techniques of scanning electron microscopy
and x-ray microanalysis suitable for application in such fields as
biology, geology, solid state physics, and materials science. Following
the format of PSEM, this book gives the student a basic knowledge of (1)
the user-controlled functions of the electron optics of the scanning
electron microscope and electron microprobe, (2) the characteristics of
electron-beam-sample inter- actions, (3) image formation and
interpretation, (4) x-ray spectrometry, and (5) quantitative x-ray
microanalysis. Each of these topics has been updated and in most cases
expanded over the material presented in PSEM in order to give the reader
sufficient coverage to understand these topics and apply the information
in the laboratory. Throughout the text, we have attempted to emphasize
practical aspects of the techniques, describing those instru- ment
parameters which the microscopist can and must manipulate to obtain
optimum information from the specimen. Certain areas in particular have
been expanded in response to their increasing importance in the SEM
field. Thus energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry, which has undergone a
tremendous surge in growth, is treated in substantial detail.
