Measurement of Electrostatic Latent Image on Photoconductors by Use of Electron Beam Probe

A novel method that makes possible the measurement of an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor is proposed. An electrostatic latent image is formed by electron charging and by laser exposing of a photoconductor within a vacuum chamber. The electrostatic latent image is measured by detecting secondary electrons generated by the scanning of an electron beam probe. When a primary electron beam hits the photoconductor, secondary electrons are generated. Secondary electrons generated in a charged area travel to an electron detector. In contrast, secondary electrons generated in an exposed area are pulled back to the photoconductor, thereby decreasing the number of secondary electrons that reach the detector. The exposed and charged areas are determined in this way. The significant feature of this method is that the means of charging, exposing, and detecting are all incorporated in the same system, making real-time measurement possible. This method has good performance with high-resolution measurement on the order of microns.