X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy in the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope

Abstract The environmental scanning electron microscope (Environmental SEM) has proved to be a powerful tool in both materials science and the life sciences. Full characterization of materials in the environmental SEM often requires chemical analysis by X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS). However, the spatial resolution of the XEDS signal can be severely degraded by the gaseous environment in the sample chamber. At an operating pressure of 5Torr a significant fraction of the primary electron beam is scattered after it passes through the final pressure limiting aperture and before it strikes the sample. Bolon and Griffin have both published data that illustrates this effect very well. Bolon revealed that 45% of the primary electron beam was scattered by more than 25 μm in an Environmental SEM operating at an accelerating voltage of 30kV, with a water vapor pressure of 3Torr and a working distance of 15mm.