Automated Analysis of X-Ray Spectrum Images from the SEM: A Practical New Tool for Microanalysis

Abstract

It is a conundrum that faces microanalysts every day: how do you comprehensively survey the chemistry of a microstructure in a reasonable time? Traditional solutions in the SEM would include taking an image and then collecting x-ray spectra from a series of points. This method relies heavily on the operator’s ability to identify chemically distinct regions. in addition, for a complex microstructure, this could take a considerable amount of time to do correctly. On the positive side, if care is taken, these ‘point spectra’ can be readily quantified. An alternative method that has been used widely is x-ray mapping, where a window of intensity in the spectra is integrated and displayed as an image. This has the advantage that qualitative elemental distributions from an area of a microstructure can be visualized. The disadvantages are that maps are generally not quantitative, can be susceptible to artifacts, and rely on fore knowledge of the elements to map.