Burdet Pierre, Croxall S A, Midgley P A
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Charles Babbage Road 27, Cambridge, CB3 0FS Cambridgeshire, UK.
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Charles Babbage Road 27, Cambridge, CB3 0FS Cambridgeshire, UK.
Ultramicroscopy. 2015 Jan;148:158-167. doi: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2014.10.010. Epub 2014 Oct 29.
An enhanced method to quantify energy dispersive spectra recorded in 3D with a scanning electron microscope (3D SEM-EDS) has been previously demonstrated. This paper presents an extension of this method using all the available X-ray lines generated by the beam. The extended method benefits from using high energy lines, that are more accurately quantified, and from using soft X-rays that are highly absorbed and thus more surface sensitive. The data used to assess the method are acquired with a dual beam FIB/SEM investigating a multi-element Ni-based superalloy. A high accelerating voltage, needed to excite the highest energy X-ray line, results in two available X-ray lines for several elements. The method shows an improved compositional quantification as well as an improved spatial resolution.
