The Big Picture

What is an SEM? How is it used? 

How does it operate? Why is it important?

How much does a scanning electron microscope cost? Where does The PERSONAL SEM fit into the picture?

How/why did we get into the scanning electron microscope service? 

 These are some of the questions we’ll try to address in this section. 

We’ll not be overly concerned with technical details'' but rather will focus on putting these questions into an overall perspective—the BIG PICTURE!

 

Forward

This manual is written with a specific audience in mind: the employees of ASPEX'' LLC. It grew out of a conviction that the knowledge of our products and markets that we each bring to our jobs is a particularly vital ingredient in our recipe for success. 

The challenge is to ensure that all employees have access to the information they need. 

“On the job training” is of course an invaluable source of practical experience'' but it also has its limitations. A person may accumulate a considerable body of facts from his/her coworkers but lack the integrated framework of basic understandings to connect them into a meaningful picture. Worse yet'' misconceptions and simply erroneous ideas can take root which will be repeated from person-to-person and thus assume an aura of authority over time. 

To this end'' I thought it important that every employee of our company have access to a common source of information about the:

• Nature of our product and its underlying technologies
• Character of our markets
• Strategies which we are employing to bring the two together effectively

This work addresses principally the first of these topics'' though I have also attempted to provide glimpses of the “bigger picture” of how we got here and where we are going.

In addition to the motivation of enhancing employee knowledge for purposes of improving our effectiveness'' there is another motivation as well.  It seems to me that it is very hard for anyone to take much pleasure in their work if they do not have at least a fair idea of what the company business is about and how and why our product is important. 

Such a lack would be a great shame'' since we are fortunate to be involved in a kind of business which is not only commercially viable'' but which is also exciting in terms of the technologies we employ and the applications we address.

I have attempted to convey some of my enthusiasm for the “romance” of our business'' and I can only hope it comes through on the printed page.

I have written this manual in much the same way I would teach a class—besides the bare “facts”'' I have also shared opinions and perceptions which are based upon my personal experience in this industry. 

I hope this will lead to a more personalized and interesting presentation'' but it does create the possibility of  “coloring” the material via my prejudices'' or even introducing outright falsehoods where my memory is unreliable. I have attempted to check my information'' but some errors have undoubtedly crept in.  I will welcome all corrections and suggestions.

Lastly'' I recognize that parts of this document will be both “too rich” for some persons to digest comfortably'' and “too light” for the tastes of others. 

For the former'' I suggest that you read the material through'' absorbing what you can and not allowing yourself to become bogged down or discouraged. We don’t expect everyone to become equally knowledgeable in the technical issues of SEM scanning electron microscope construction and usage'' but even a superficial exposure to the terminology and concepts will help you to communicate with your fellow employees and better appreciate the nature of our business. 

To those who seek more “meat” on a given topic—I will be glad to point you to additional references. 

Bon appetite!

Fred Schamber