In recent years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely used as a high-sensitivity sensor material. The fine structure of the surface morphology largely affects the characteristics. Therefore, delicate observation of the microstructures within the range of nanometer is vitally important for achieving better CNT surface properties.
On the basis of theoretical analysis on the observation of the microstructure of CNT surface, Yu Nam Chol, a researcher at the Science Engineering Institute, has observed the image of CNT surface microstructure by Quanta 200 SEM to select a proper accelerating voltage.
The theoretical analysis of the effects of energy of incident electrons on the range of the electron-CNTs interaction and the resolution of SEM indicated that the most proper accelerating voltage for microstructure observation of CNTs surface by using an SEM (Quanta200) is within 5~10kV. Through the experiments based on it, he found that the accelerating voltage of 7.5kV provides the sharpest image of the microstructure of CNT surface.
You can find more information about this in his paper “Study on Accelerating Voltage of SEM in Observation of Carbon Nanotube Surface” in “Nanoscience and Nanometrology”.
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