Electron Probe Microanalysis UA Geosciences电子探针 UA地球科学.pptVIP

Electron Probe Microanalysis Electron Probe Microanalysis A technique to quantitatively analyze samples for their chemical composition on a micro-scale (~1μm) Instrument: Known as probe, microprobe or electron microprobe – all the same Main components Electron Gun Beam Column Sample Holder/Air Lock X-ray Spectrometers – Wavelength or Energy Dispersive Vacuum System Illumination System Brief Description of Main Components Electron Gun – Source of electrons generated by thermionic emission of Tungsten filament Grid cap (Wehnelt cylinder) negatively biased to constrict electron beam (From Reference 1, page 30) Beam Column Serves to de-magnify image of filament to achieve ~ 1?m beam size Contains a condenser lens and an objective lens (From reference 2, page 45) Sample holder/air lock Provides a means of holding a sample for examination – typically a polished thin section or mineral grain mount Air lock provides a means to exchange samples – be careful here! X-ray spectrometers Two kinds of spectrometer found on probes – wavelength (WDS) and energy dispersive (EDS) – WDS 10X sensitivity of EDS Measure the same thing – characteristic spectra of an element present in the sample E = hc/λ = 12.396/ λ, E = energy in Kev, h = Planck’s constant, c = velocity of light, λ = wavelength in angstroms This relationship shows energy and wavelength are inversely related Method utilizes the characteristic radiation from an excited atom to quantify the amount of an element in a sample – Peak height proportional to amount of element present, after background correction Example: a K shell electron is ejected and an L electron drops to fill vacancy – leads to a Kα line (this radiation is specific to the atom excited) (From reference 3, page 7) Origin of X-ray Lines for K and L Transitions Quantitative analysis Purpose: to quantify the amount of an element in a sample – must compare signal from sample to that of a known standard To first order, counts from sample and counts fro