PRACTICALITY OF PERFORMING QUANTITATIVE ELECTRON MICROPROBE ANALYSIS USING AN ENERGY DISPERSIVE SPECTROMETER.

The use of the energy dispersive Si(Li) x-ray detector is an established method for analysis in electron beam instruments. The ability of such a spectrometer to perform realistic quantitative x-ray microprobe analysis is frequently underestimated. This paper compares the microprobe analyses of 6 and 3 mu m diam. chromium oxides in an iron matrix whose K ratios were measured simultaneously, with a fully focusing crystal spectrometer and an energy dispersive Si(Li) x-ray detector. The technique of performing electron microprobe analyses without the use of standards with an energy dispersive Si(Li) x-ray detector is outlined, and a simplified example is shown. Thin-foil microprobe analysis techniques are also discussed.