Organic pore structure characterization of shale: a comparison between scanning electron microscopy and helium ion microscopy

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and helium ion microscopy (HIM) are two of the fundamental tools in the study of the microstructures of shale. A comprehensive comparison of these two techniques in the application of organic pore structure characterization is presented in this work. Owing to the small wavelength of the helium ion, the spot size of the ion beam is not restricted by diffraction aberration, and the convergence angle of helium ion beam can be much smaller than of the electron beam. The microscopic images and reconstruction models indicate that HIM has higher spatial resolution and increased depth of field than SEM. The pores below 10 nm and inner structures of pore networks can be observed via HIM images. The advantages shown in the focused ion beam/helium ion microscopy (FIB/HIM) results are similar to the 2-D HIM images. Smaller pores whose size is beyond the resolution of focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) can be found, which suggests the connection possibility of the big pores. However, to get reliable pictures, the ion-induced damage on organic matters should be avoided. To lower the beam current and to shorten the dwell time are two effective ways to reduce the beam damage.