The scanning electron microscope (SEM) contains an electron optical system in which electrons are emitted and moved to form a focused beam, and generates secondary electrons from the specimen surfaces, eventually making an image. The electron optical system usually contains two condenser lenses and an objective lens. The condenser lenses generate a magnetic field that forces the electron beams to form crossovers at desired locations. The objective lens then focuses the electron beams on the specimen. The present study covers the design and analysis of an objective lens for a thermionic SEM. A finite element (FE) analysis for the objective lens is performed to analyze its magnetic characteristics for various lens designs. Relevant beam trajectories are also investigated by tracing the ray path of the electron beams under the magnetic fields inside the objective lens.
