The sample surface is coated with a thin layer of resist.

Some electrons penetrate the sample surface and escape into vacuum.

This means that there are no diffraction conditions in the direction perpendicular to the sample surface.

Thus, the image features indicate points at which dislocations intercept the sample surface.

The typical time to perform physical experiments on sample surfaces is in the range of one to several hours.

In this type of operation, the current is measured in the small space between the tip and the sample surface.

In this mode, the tip of the cantilever does not contact the sample surface.

At this point a jet of material is ejected from the sample surface (Step 2).

Due to their low energy, these electrons originate within a few nanometers from the sample surface.

To achieve sufficient spatial resolution, the detector (film) needs to be placed rather close to the sample surface.