Large Area Imaging Electron Energy Analyzer

This project is to assess the feasibility of an instrument to provide energy-filtered electron images of a specimen at least 10mm by 10mm in size, operating over a 50-900eV energy range and suitable for NEXAFS chemical imaging. The applicant proposes to demonstrate feasibility by delivering a suitable electron-optical design along with calculated performance characteristics. Knowledge of the existing journal and patent literaturemakes the applicant confident that a practical design can be discovered. The applicant's key personnel have demonstrated a mastery of the art and science of charged-particle optics simulations and the model is a sufficient demonstration of feasibility. In one likely design approach, the system includes the specimen, a first electrostatic lens system, a spherical electric field energy filter, a second electrostatic lens system, and a two-dimensional imaging detector system. The specimen would be kept grounded and field-free. The first lens system demagnifies, adjusts energy, and transforms the spatial information in preparation for the energy filter. The second lens system provides the inverse operations and directs the electrons onto the detector.