11835 – Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM)

The Department of Imaging Physics at TU Delft, Faculty of Applied Sciences, has available funding through the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) consortium “Foundations for Electron-Beam Metrology and Inspection” for the acquisition of advanced electron microscopy instrumentation.
The intended purchase is a high-end field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) to support coherent diffractive imaging in both transmission and reflection geometries. The instrument must meet the following critical performance criteria:
• High temporal and spatial coherence at acceleration voltages of 5–30 keV and probe currents of 25–100 pA.
• Compatibility with bulk samples exceeding 70 × 70 mm, with multiple secondary and back-scattered electron detectors in reflection mode.
• Stable stage and flexible chamber design to accommodate custom detectors and electro-optical components in reflection mode.
• Support for direct-electron detectors in transmission (preferably retractable), with sufficient resolution inside the bright-field disk to enable diffractive imaging algorithms. This requires a large camera length and convergence angles exceeding 10 mrad at 30 keV.
These specifications are essential to ensure the instrument can fully support the consortium research program in advanced electron-beam metrology and imaging.

Motivation
TU Delft has conducted an extensive market survey and technical evaluation of commercially available field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) systems capable of meeting the functional requirements described above.
Based on this assessment, TU Delft concludes that FEI Europe B.V. is currently the only supplier able to provide an instrument that meets the full combination of required specifications necessary for the successful execution of the intended research activities.
On this basis, TU Delft intends to proceed with a single-supplier procurement procedure (see document).