Electron‐acoustic microscopy

OCT 01, 1981

The thermal and elastic properties of solids are being mapped with high resolution by exposing specimens to chopped electron beams and recording sounds produced by the resulting periodic thermal expansion.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2914330

G. Slade Cargill

Electron‐acoustic microscopy is a new technique enabling us to produce images that show variations in an object’s thermal and elastic properties with a resolution on the order of microns. These images appear dramatically different than optical or electron microscope pictures, and contain much information not otherwise available (see figure 1). Because the technique is less than two years old, it is too early to identify with certainty the areas in which electron‐acoustic microscopy will be important; we can, however, name a few possibilities:

▸ the non‐destructive examination of complex integrated circuits

▸ the in vitro examination of biological materials

▸ the mapping of defects and inhomogeneities in amorphous solids

▸ the recovery of obscured metal imprints, such as the serial numbers on firearms.

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More about the Authors

G. Slade Cargill. IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York.