The scanning electron microscope (SEM) uses a focused beam of high-energy electrons (called an electron probe) to generate a variety of signals including secondary electrons at the surface of solid specimens. The signals that derive from electron-sample interactions provide topographical information about the sample including surface morphology, chemical composition, and crystalline structure and orientation of materials making up the sample. In most applications, topography of the surface can be observed by two-dimensional scanning of the electron probe over the surface and acquisition of an image from the detected secondary electrons. The SEM is also capable of performing analyses of qualitatively or semi-quantitatively determining chemical compositions when coupled with Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (EDS). The advantage of the EDS is that the X-rays from a wide range of elements from B to U are analyzed simultaneously.

In our lab, all the solid samples are characterize, before and after chemical process, for bulk and surface properties. Here, SEM data used to extract particle size distributions, shape information and elemental compositions. Through collaborations, we have access to several SEM facilities including,