X-ray Spectra and Images

TheX-ray spectrumgenerated within your specimen consists of element-specific characteristic peaks with well-defined energies superimposed on a non-characteristic background. While the XEDS system is a remarkable piece of technology, we’ve already described its limited resolution and we will see in this chapter that it is also prone to creating small artifact peaks in the spectrum. Furthermore, the unavoidable presence of scattered electrons and X-rays within the AEM conspire to degrade the quality of the generated spectrum and increase the number of false peaks in the displayed spectrum. The AEM illumination system and specimen stage are rich sources of powerful radiation, not all of it by any means coming from the area of interest in your specimen. So you have to take precautions to ensure that the X-ray spectrum you collect comes predominantly from the area of the specimen that you want to analyze and we describe several tests you should perform to ensure that the XEDSTEM interface is optimized.