Thin film X-ray microanalysis with the analytical electron microscope

Abstract

X-ray microanalysis, when performed in an analytical electron microscope (AEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), is a powerful technique for determining chemical composition at high spatial resolution.The basic aspects of the generation and detection of X-rays will be reviewed and the problem of quantification of thin films (composition and thickness) will be discussed.

References

1. See, for example, R. F. Egerton, Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy in the Electron Microscope, Plenum Press, New York and London, 2nd edn., 1996, p. 405.
2. P. J. Statham, X-ray Spectrom., 1976, 5, 154.
3. P. Kirkpatrick and L. Wiedmann, Phys. Rev., 1945, 67, 321.
4. R. A. Sareen, in X-ray Spectrometry in Electron Beam Instruments, ed. D. B. Williams, J. I. Goldstein and D. E. Newbury, Plenum Press, New York, 1995, ch. 4.
5. N. J. Zaluzec, Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Electron Microscopy, Toronto, 1978, vol. I, p. 548.
6. D. B. Williams and C. B. Carter, in Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science, Plenum Press, New York and London, 1996, vol. 4, p. 580.
7. W. A. P. Nicholson, C. C. Gray, J. N. Chapman and B. W. Robertson, J. Microsc., 1982, 125, 25.
8. S. M. Zemyan and D. B. Williams, J. Microsc., 1994, 174.
9. H. A. Kramers, Phil. Mag., 1923, 46, 836.
10. N. Ware and S. J. B. Reed, J. Phys. E, 1973, 6, 286.
11. G. Cliff and G. W. Lorimer, J. Microsc., 1975, 103, 203.
12. A good example of K-factors compilation can be found in the paper by P. A. Sheridan, J. Electron Microsc. Technique, 1989, 11, 41.
13. K. Rajan, J. McCaffrey, P. B. Sewell, C. R. Leavens and G. L'Esperance, in Intermediate Voltage Microscopy and its Application to Materials Science, ed. K. Rajan, Electron Optics Publishing Group, Philips Electronic Instruments, Inc., Mahwah, NJ, USA, 1987, p. 11.
14. R. Tixier and J. Philibert, Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on X-ray Optics and Microanalysis, ed. G. Möllenstedt and K. H. Gaukler, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1969, p. 180.
15. J. I. Goldstein, J. L. Costley, G. W. Lorimer and S. J. B. Reed, in Scanning Electron Microscopy 1977, ed. O. Johari, IITRI Publishers,, Chicago, IL, USA, 1977, vol. I, p. 315.
16. J. H. Hubbell, Compilation of Photon Cross Sections: Some Historical Remarks and Current Status, paper presented at EDXRS98, Bologna, June, 1998, to be published in ??X-ray Spectrom..
17. C. Nockolds, M. J. Nasir, G. Cliff and G. W. Lorimer, in Electron Microscopy and Analysis 1979, ed. T. Mulvey, The Institute of Physics, Bristol and London, 1980, p. 417.
18. E. Van Cappellen, Microsc. Microanal. Microstruct., 1990, 1, 1.
19. P. L. Morris, M. D. Ball and P. J. Statham, Electron Microscopy and Analysis, 1979, Inst. Phys. Conf. Ser., 1980, 52, 413.
20. Z. Horita, K. Ichitani, T. Sano and M. Nemoto, Phil. Mag., 1989, A59, 939.
21. D. F. Kyser and K. Murata, IBM J. Res. Dev., 1974, 18, 352.
22. A. Armigliato, A. Desalvo, R. Rinaldi and R. Rosa, J. Phys. D, 1979, 12, 1299.
23. A. Armigliato and R. Rosa, Ultramicroscopy, 1990, 32, 127.
24. A. Armigliato, D. Govoni, R. Balboni, S. Frabboni, M. Berti, F. Romanato and A. V. Drigo, Mikrochim. Acta, 1994, 114/115, 175.
25. A. Armigliato, R. Balboni, F. Corticelli, S. Frabboni, F. Malvezzi and J. Vanhellemont, Mater. Sci. Technol., 1995, 11, 400.
26. A. Armigliato, T. Lewis and R. Rosa, Mikrochim. Acta [Suppl.], 1996, 13, 241.
27. W. M. J. Veigele, At. Data, 1973, 5, 51.
28. K. F. J. Heinrich, in Proceedings of the 11th Conference on X-ray Optics and Microanalysis (ICXOM-11), ed. J. Brown and R. Packwood, University of Western Ontario, Canada, 1986, p. 67.
29. S. J. B. Reed, Ultramicroscopy, 1982, 7, 405.
30. J. R. Michael, D. B. Williams, D. B. Klein and R. Ayer, J. Microsc., 1990, 160, 41.
31. D. C. Joy and D. M. Maher, in Scanning Electron Microscopy 1977, ed. O. Johari, IITRI Publishers, Chicago, IL, USA, 1977, vol. I, p. 325.
32. C. E. Lyman and J. R. Michael, in Analytical Electron Microscopy 1987, ed. D. C. Joy, San Francisco Press, San Francisco, CA, USA, 1987, p. 231.
33. C. E. Lyman, J. L. Goldstein, D. B. Williams, D. W. Ackland, S. von Harrach, A. W. Nicholls and P. J. Statham, J. Microsc., 1994, 176, 85.
34. J. Martinis, in Microbeam Analysis-1995, ed. E. Etz, VCH, New York, USA, 1996, p. 3.
35. D. A. Wollman, G. C. Hilton, K. D. Irwin and J. M. Martinis, in Proceedings of Microscopy and Microanalysis 1996, San Francisco Press, San Francisco, CA, USA, 1996, p. 488.
36. J. M. Titchmarsh, Mikrochim. Acta (Suppl.), 1998, 15, 37.