Factors governing the discharge of electrostatic mirror formations in the scanning electron microscope

Two primary parameters for an automated electrostatic mirror discharge technique are studied, namely the discharge voltage and the discharge current. It was found that using discharge voltages corresponding to the σ≫1 region and near the first crossover point of a sample’s total yield curve gave the optimum discharge rate for the technique. Also, using discharge currents larger than the scanning current was shown to improve the rate of discharge. These optimizations ensure the feasibility of this technique as a discharge tool where repeated high and low beam voltage switching in the scanning electron microscope is needed. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.