Application Ofthinfilm Method to Electronic Probe Microanalysis (EPMA)

Abstract

Usually, in electron probe microanalysis, the X-ray diffusion range is around lμm on the sample surface. For this reason, the maximum useful magnification of X-ray image seems to be limited to a few thousand times. The X-ray diffusion on the \im order takes place in the bulk sample. However, when a sample is cut to a thin film, it is likely that the X-ray diffusion range will be made smaller, and it is also possible to observe very a narrow area X-ray image at higher magnification. The thin film method is a sampling technique used often in transmission electron microscopy. The microtome method has been applied to organic materials, and the method using focus ion beam (FIB) has been applied to inorganic materials. Takahashi et al. have reported the effectiveness of the microtome application to EPMA of soft materials. in this report, the FIB method was applied to a sampling of inorganic materials in order to obtain high resolution X-ray images of real samples.