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X-Ray Spectroscopy Enables Elemental Mapping at the Atomic-Level

May. 04, 2011
The images show atomic-level EDX spectroscopy of the material Strontium Titanate; the individual atomic positions of the crystal structure can be easily distinguished by their chemical signal (red is Strontium, green is Titanium). These images are based on raw data, with no signal post-processing, and the individual atomic column positions in the structure are visible and clearly distinguished from their neighbors with very high contrast and signal-to-noise quality. The sampling of these atomic-level chemical maps is 0.075 Angstroms per pixel, the highest sampling density obtained so far by any atomic spectroscopy technique using scanning/transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM). These chemical maps were acquired in just minutes on a Titan G2 60-300 S/TEM with ChemiSTEM Technology.
The images show atomic-level EDX spectroscopy of the material Strontium Titanate; the individual ... more

FEI Company has announced that elemental mapping at the atomic-level is now possible across the periodic table using ChemiSTEM Technology.


The combination of increased current in an atomic-sized probe by Cs-correction and the increase in X-ray detection sensitivity and beam current of the ChemiSTEM Technology allows results to be obtained within minutes.


The Technology achieves a factor of 50 or more enhancement in speed of EDX elemental mapping on scanning/transmission electron microscopes (S/TEMs) compared to conventional technology employing standard EDX Silicon-drift detectors (SDDs) and standard Schottky-FEG electron sources.  It combines FEI's X-FEG high brightness electron source, providing up to five times more beam current at a given spatial resolution; the patent-pending Super-X detection system, providing up to ten times or more detection sensitivity in EDX; and fast scanning electronics, capable of achieving EDX spectral rates of up to 100,000 spectra per second. Additionally, the windowless detector design employed for each of ChemiSTEM Technology's four integrated SDD detectors has proven to optimize the detection of both light and heavy elements.


This combination of high detection sensitivity and high spectral rates of up to 100,000 spectra per second are enabling better EDX mapping of materials that are highly sensitive to electron beam damage, such as composition analysis in nanometer-scale Indium Gallium Nitride quantum wells used in light emitting diode (LED) devices, and semiconductor devices with potentially mobile dopant materials, as well as many others devices used in emerging nanotechnologies.

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Keywords: EDX EDX-mapping elemental analysis Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy Energy Dispersive X-Ray FEI Fei Company SDD Silicon Drift Detector Spectroscopy STEM TEM

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