Prospects for improvement in EDX microanalysis

Abstract

SUMMARYThere is still considerable room for improvement in the EDX technique, particularly for the analysis of thin samples in transmission electron microscopes. Further research is required to characterize changes which are introduced during specimen preparation and a technique for mass thickness determination has to be established which is both accurate and convenient to implement. Since detector efficiency is difficult to predict at low energies, a suitable standard sample needs to be found which produces X‐ray peaks suitable for establishing fixed points on the detector efficiency curve. With current technology, there are several instrumental improvements which can be realized, most of which centre around the use of time‐variant pulse‐processing circuitry and reduction of electronic noise. Problems of overload with high‐voltage microscopes can be minimized, resolution improved and pile‐up rejection made more effective so that higher data rates can be accommodated. With the beryllium vacuum window removed, detection of boron is possible provided the influence of electronic noise is minimized but further investigation is still required into the physics of interactions in the first 100 nm layer of the detector.