The working principle of electron microscopes is to form an image by using electron beams and electron lenses instead of light beams and optical lenses in optical microscopes. The design and focusing characteristics of magnetic lenses determine the main parameters of electron microscopes. The electro-optical (EO) system of transmission electron microscopy can be classified into illumination and imaging systems. The former consists of an electron gun and a focusing lens while the latter is made up of a sample chamber, an objective lens and intermediate and projective lenses. In an EO system, lenses are the most important components and the one that plays a crucial role among lenses is an objective lens.
There are many studies in the literature on the method of calculating the focal length of magnetic lenses in transmission electron microscopes, but these calculations are empirical, based on only pole-piece diameter, gap and the number of excitation turns in a magnetic lens. The effect of the change of various factors such as other structural dimensions, magnetic lens material and magnetic circuit configuration on the focal length is not mentioned, .
In magnetic lenses, the pole-piece diameter and the gap are of primary importance, but the magnetic circuit constituting the lens, the position of the magnetic flux-making coil, and other structural dimensions will influence the magnetic field distribution and the focal length. Therefore, the conventional focal length calculation method presents many problems in the design of real magnetic lenses.
Kim Hak Chol, a researcher at the Faculty of Electronics, proposed a new method of calculating the focal length by simulating the magnetic field distribution and trajectory of a magnetic lens.
Using a simulation tool, he set the structure dimensions, excitation conditions and material settings just like real ones and calculated the magnetic field distribution based on them. Then, he determined the focal length from the trajectory data by means of the method of calculating the focal length based on the electro-optical theory.
Unlike conventional focal length calculations, the proposed method can improve the accuracy of magnetic lens design, with all the factors affecting the focal length in consideration.