The document discusses the principles and applications of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). When an electron beam strikes a sample in an SEM, it generates various signals that can be used. SEM allows observing surface topography at high resolution, measuring thin film thickness, examining precipitates at grain boundaries, and finding surface defects. As an example, SEM provided a clear image of the layering and crystallographic structure of sputter deposited platinum on a curved surface, demonstrating SEM's greater depth of field compared to optical microscopy.