A versatile beam-scanning system has been developed for use with the Electron Microprobe X-ray Analyzer manufactured by Applied Research Laboratories, Inc. It provides for the display of X-ray intensities from any of three spectrometers, three nondispersive detectors (either counters or scintiallation counters), as well as the current collected by the target or the current backscattered by the target. The electrostatic deflection system does not interfere with the use of the optical-viewing system and provides a maximum scanning area of only slightly less than field of view of the optical-viewing system.

A stepping motor, controlled from the readout console, has also been developed which permits automatic point-by-point analysis of a specimen with minimum operator attention. In the use of this attachement, measurements may be made for fixed time, fixed charge, or fixed counts (integrated intensity) at each point. As a result, the step-scanning motor facilitates accurate measurement of one-dimensional concentration fluctuations and is particularly useful for phase identification and studies of diffusion and segregation.