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Use of the Disk-of-least-confusion in X-ray Microanalysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

E. A. Kenik  and
S. X. Ren
E. A. Kenik
Affiliation:
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6376
S. X. Ren
Affiliation:
Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6376
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Extract

Whereas the spatial resolution for standard secondary electron (SEI) imaging in a scanning electron microscope or electron probe microanalyzer is related to the incident probe diameter, the spatial resolution for x-ray microanalysis is related to the convolution of the probe diameter with the spatial extent of the analyzed volume for a point probe. The latter is determined by electron scattering in the specimen and the subsequent emission of excited x-rays from the specimen. As such, it is possible that “What you see is not what you get”. This is especially true for instruments with high brightness electron sources (field emission). This problem is compounded by probe aberrations which at Gaussian image focus can produce significant electron tails extending tens of microns from the center of the probe.

Type
New Trends in Scanning Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 4 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis '98, Microscopy Society of America 56th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 32nd Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia July 12-16, 1998 , July 1998 , pp. 274 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

1Van Essom, C. et.al., J. Mater. Sci. 6 (1971) 213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory SHaRE User Facility supported by the Division of Materials Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464 with Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation. The authors wish to thank Dr. J. Bentley for suggesting the use of the disk-of-least-confiision in order to improve the spatial resolution of x-ray microanalysis.Google Scholar