Superxap-- A Personal-Computer-Based Program for Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectra Analysis

1993 ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
D. B. Yager ◽  
J. E. Quick
1992 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
D.B. Yager ◽  
J.E. Quick

AbstractSUPERXAP (Super X-ray Analysis Program) enables IBM-compatible personal computers to analyze energy-dispersive spectra using least-squares spectral deconvolution. The program corrects for instrument drift, background, peak overlap, and matrix effects. Pull down menus provide 24 subroutines and functions, that allow spectra to be transferred, stored, viewed, manipulated, and analyzed. Spectral peaks can be identified manually or automatically with color-coded K, L or M lines. Working curves are developed using an interactive routine that creates standard files by least-squares fitting of peak intensities to known elemental abundances. Elemental abundances in unknowns may be determined in a variety of ways including on-line analysis of spectra as they are generated by an energy-dispersive detector and by batch analyses of spectra stored on disk. Standard deviation, based on counting statistics, is reported for each element in each analysis. Written in QuickBASIC 4.5 for interface with a KEVEX 7000 radioactive-source x-ray fluorescence analyzer, SUPERXAP could be adapted, with minor modification, to accept and analyze data from other instruments that produce energy-dispersive spectra.


1975 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 153-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
J . E. Stewart ◽  
H. R. Zulliger ◽  
W. E. Drummond

Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry has the potential for making very rapid analyses of multi-element samples. In order to fully exploit this capability several studies have been carried out with the goal of improving performance at high input count rates. A refined amplifier permits operation at input count rates up to 80000 per second with minimal peak shift and distortion. Optimum choice of tube parameters and filters permits utilization of a single Mo transmission target tube to analyze a broad range of elements in minimum time. Use of a pulsed tube further reduces the time required for analysis without sacrifice of precision or resolution. Dead time necessarily increases with increasing input count rate. It can be reduced by selecting a short amplifier time constant, but only with a loss of resolution. Digital processing permits recovery of the lost resolution. Some illustrations are given of spectra that have been processed on-line using a computer based multi-channel analyzer.


Author(s):  
J.M. Titchmarsh

The advances in recent years in the microanalytical capabilities of conventional TEM's fitted with probe forming lenses allow much more detailed investigations to be made of the microstructures of complex alloys, such as ferritic steels, than have been possible previously. In particular, the identification of individual precipitate particles with dimensions of a few tens of nanometers in alloys containing high densities of several chemically and crystallographically different precipitate types is feasible. The aim of the investigation described in this paper was to establish a method which allowed individual particle identification to be made in a few seconds so that large numbers of particles could be examined in a few hours.A Philips EM400 microscope, fitted with the scanning transmission (STEM) objective lens pole-pieces and an EDAX energy dispersive X-ray analyser, was used at 120 kV with a thermal W hairpin filament. The precipitates examined were extracted using a standard C replica technique from specimens of a 2¼Cr-lMo ferritic steel in a quenched and tempered condition.


Author(s):  
J. Bentley ◽  
E. A. Kenik

Instruments combining a 100 kV transmission electron microscope (TEM) with scanning transmission (STEM), secondary electron (SEM) and x-ray energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) attachments to give analytical capabilities are becoming increasingly available and useful. Some typical applications in the field of materials science which make use of the small probe size and thin specimen geometry are the chemical analysis of small precipitates contained within a thin foil and the measurement of chemical concentration profiles near microstructural features such as grain boundaries, point defect clusters, dislocations, or precipitates. Quantitative x-ray analysis of bulk samples using EDS on a conventional SEM is reasonably well established, but much less work has been performed on thin metal foils using the higher accelerating voltages available in TEM based instruments.


Author(s):  
Allen Angel ◽  
Kathryn A. Jakes

Fabrics recovered from archaeological sites often are so badly degraded that fiber identification based on physical morphology is difficult. Although diagenetic changes may be viewed as destructive to factors necessary for the discernment of fiber information, changes occurring during any stage of a fiber's lifetime leave a record within the fiber's chemical and physical structure. These alterations may offer valuable clues to understanding the conditions of the fiber's growth, fiber preparation and fabric processing technology and conditions of burial or long term storage (1).Energy dispersive spectrometry has been reported to be suitable for determination of mordant treatment on historic fibers (2,3) and has been used to characterize metal wrapping of combination yarns (4,5). In this study, a technique is developed which provides fractured cross sections of fibers for x-ray analysis and elemental mapping. In addition, backscattered electron imaging (BSI) and energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (EDS) are utilized to correlate elements to their distribution in fibers.


Author(s):  
Marc H. Peeters ◽  
Max T. Otten

Over the past decades, the combination of energy-dispersive analysis of X-rays and scanning electron microscopy has proved to be a powerful tool for fast and reliable elemental characterization of a large variety of specimens. The technique has evolved rapidly from a purely qualitative characterization method to a reliable quantitative way of analysis. In the last 5 years, an increasing need for automation is observed, whereby energy-dispersive analysers control the beam and stage movement of the scanning electron microscope in order to collect digital X-ray images and perform unattended point analysis over multiple locations.The Philips High-speed Analysis of X-rays system (PHAX-Scan) makes use of the high performance dual-processor structure of the EDAX PV9900 analyser and the databus structure of the Philips series 500 scanning electron microscope to provide a highly automated, user-friendly and extremely fast microanalysis system. The software that runs on the hardware described above was specifically designed to provide the ultimate attainable speed on the system.


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