Abstract

Elemental and chemical state maps of p/n-controlled SrB6 bulk specimens are presented by using a soft X-ray emission spectroscopy electron microscope. Those bulk specimens were obtained by sintering powder specimens, prepared by the molten-salt method with different compositions of initial materials. A Sr-map, a chemical shift map of B K-emission, and the spectra of characteristic regions of those materials were compared. It was observed that a local Sr deficiency caused a local hole-doped region, confirmed by a chemical shift in the B K-emission spectrum. n-type SrB6 was rather homogeneous. On the other hand, the p-type SrB6 bulk specimen was a mixture of two different p-type regions. This mixed nature originated, presumably, from an uneven Sr content of SrB6 particles prepared by the molten-salt method using a Sr-deficient starting material. A separation process of the two types of materials will realize a high-quality homogeneous p-type SrB6 bulk specimens.

Highlights

  • Recent developments in new functional materials, with the help of theoretical simulations and data science, could accelerate practical applications of these new functional materials

  • Electron-beam-induced X-ray emission was used for elemental analysis by using an X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) instrument, and elemental and partial chemical analyses were performed using an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA)

  • As the energy spread of valence bands (VB) is smaller than 10 eV, an energy resolution better than 1 eV is necessary for obtaining information of chemical bonding states by soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES)

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Summary

Introduction

Recent developments in new functional materials, with the help of theoretical simulations and data science, could accelerate practical applications of these new functional materials. A soft X-ray emission spectroscopy (SXES) instrument, combined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and/or an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) can realize a nondestructive inspection process of the chemical state of materials, with a spatial resolution of about 1 μm or better [5,6,7]. If this occurs, SXES microscopy can make a quick feedback loop of the evaluated results of new products for materials processing

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