A new form of the extrapolation method for absorption correction in quantitative X-ray microanalysis with the analytical electron microscope

Abstract

The extrapolation method may be used to correct X-ray absorption without knowledge of thickness in quantitative microanalysis with the analytical electron microscope. This paper presents a new form of the method which permits the analysis of a region equivalent to a focused beam size or of a specimen with a uniform thickness. The development of the method is based on tilting the specimen and introducing a geometrical factor into the earlier form. The new form is general because it includes not only the data for different thicknesses as used in the earlier form but also the data at different tilt angles. The applicability of the new form is demonstrated with reference to experimental data for a Ni-Al-Ta alloy and of Maher et al. [in: Analytical Electron Microscopy - 1981, p. 29].