Color-coded display of information in scanning electron microscopy

This article describes a system for color-coding of images for qualitative and quantitative analysis of information in the scanning electron microscope. The method is based on an “intensity-color” conversion, which matches a certain color with a certain parameter or property of the object. The video signal is quantized with respect to the color spectrum in the secondary-electron-emission, back-scattered-electron, elemental-analysis, potential-contrast, and induced-current modes in studying semiconductor structures. The potentialities of color-coding of the video signal are demonstrated experimentally in fast quality control of microelectronic parts and in determining the local distribution of chemical elements in materials under study.