Technology – What is EDX Analysis?

@RAEng_Publications (CC0-Lizenz) / pixabay.com

EDX analysis means analyzes of substances in which chemical elements are identified.

Thus this method can be used to accurately determine the composition of materials. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX for short) is performed on a scanning electron microscope on metals or non-metals.

Through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, among other things, measurement of the layer thickness of the coating can be performed in the nanoscale.

Exact interpretation of energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX)

In short, in this energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy EDX analysis Methods can be used to determine the chemical elements of a substance by X-ray microscopic analysis.

Coatings, foreign matter, metals, and non-metallic inclusions are frequently examined in the process. To identify chemical elements.

The interaction of the primary electrons from the sample surface and the electron beam is used to stimulate X-ray radiation.

EDX analysis operates on a scanning electron microscope, where each chemical element emits a specific X-ray radiation as soon as it shows a reaction.

The creation of this is based on the fact that electrons from a shell close to the nucleus are filtered by the initial electron beam.

During the EDX analysis, the detector ensures that the energy of the X-ray radiation is determined. This determines the elements that occur in the workpiece. In energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, three different analyses are distinguished:

sputanalis
Line analysis
Flechenanalyse

Area analysis provides a distribution of chemical elements for the area to be analyzed.

Scale a layer using EDX

With the help of X-ray microscopic analysis, ceiling layer measurement of thin layers can be carried out without damaging the material. This process is particularly used for coatings with thicknesses in the nano range.

For this purpose, the paint-covered element is optically scanned through the depth with different acceleration voltages. This means that the greater the acceleration potential on the element, the deeper the electron beam.

If there is an EDX analysis with lower acceleration voltage. If the x-ray beam penetrates mainly into the upper region of the workpiece and hardly goes into the depth.

This means: the higher the voltage, the deeper the penetration of x-rays. While more and more electrons are coming from the deeper layers.

Therefore a K value is determined for each EDX measurement and for each item. The thickness of the layer, in turn, can be calculated on the basis of the obtained concentration.

Scanning electron microscopy (REM)

In scanning electron microscopy, the workpiece is bombarded with an elementary electron beam. This is created with the help of the electron cathode accelerating to the anode.

Moreover, the electron beam is directed at the object to be examined by an electromagnetic lens. This bundled beam runs in a line over the object and the resulting interaction of electrons degrades the surface.

In the course of electron microscopy analysis, the primary electron beam strikes the object to be examined and triggers several reactions at the surface.

The surface topography is reflected by the secondary electron anisotropy at high resolution.

This creates elastic interactions between the refracted electrons, the so-called bounce-back contrast or BSE for short. It is also often called physical contrast.

Homepage