title: Unlocking new contrast in a scanning helium microscope.
abstract: Delicate structures (such as biological samples, organic films for polymer electronics and adsorbate layers) suffer degradation under the energetic probes of traditional microscopies. Furthermore, the charged nature of these probes presents difficulties when imaging with electric or magnetic fields, or for insulating materials where the addition of a conductive coating is not desirable. Scanning helium microscopy is able to image such structures completely non-destructively by taking advantage of a neutral helium beam as a chemically, electrically and magnetically inert probe of the sample surface. Here we present scanning helium micrographs demonstrating image contrast arising from a range of mechanisms including, for the first time, chemical contrast observed from a series of metal-semiconductor interfaces. The ability of scanning helium microscopy to distinguish between materials without the risk of damage makes it ideal for investigating a wide range of systems.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Organic Electronics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.affiliation: Centre for Organic Electronics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fahy
authors.affiliation: Centre for Organic Electronics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martens
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Jardine
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Organic Electronics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Dastoor