Glossary terms about X-rays
- X-rays
- X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the range 0.01 to 10 nm.
▼2 more terms contain X-rays
- X-rays
- X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the range 0.01 to 10 nm.
- Bremsstrahlung X-rays
- Braking radiation. X-rays produced by slowing down of the primary-beam electrons by the electric field around atomic nuclei in the sample.
- Characteristic X-rays
- X-rays with discrete energies reflecting the electronic configuration of the parent atom, produced after ionization of an inner electron shell and subsequent relaxation of the excited atom.
22 pages mention X-rays
- Accuracy, Precision and Detection Limits
- It depends on the number of x-rays in the spectrum and the statistics related to that number.
- Additional material
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- Auger animation
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- Background information - What is energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy?
- Two types of x-rays result from these interactions: Bremsstrahlung x-rays, which means ‘braking radiation’ and are also referred to as Continuum or background x-rays, and Characteristic x-rays.
- Bremsstrahlung animation
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- Bremsstrahlung X-ray generation
- Two types of x-rays are produced by interaction of the electron beam with the sample in both the SEM and TEM: Bremsstrahlung (which means ‘braking radiation’) and Characteristic x-rays.
- Characteristic X-ray generation
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- Characteristic X-rays
- Characteristic x-rays are produced by electron transitions between the electron shells.
- EDS spectral artifacts
- Several artifacts can be produced in ED X-ray spectra because of the way the x-rays are detected and processed.
- EDS spectral resolution
- Characteristic x-rays have discrete energies but in the process of detecting and measuring them the discrete lines spread into Gaussian peaks.
- Generation of X-rays in the Electron Microscope
- In the SEM, secondary electrons are produced from the surface of the sample or topmost part of the interaction volume; backscattered electrons come from the top half of the interaction volume; and x-rays are generated within the whole of the interaction volume.
- Introduction
- The input beam may comprise light (including laser beams), x-rays and other electro-magnetic waves, electrons, protons or ions.
- K-lines animation
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- KL-lines animation
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- L-lines animation
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- M-lines animation
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- Qualitative EDS X-ray microanalysis using SEM and TEM
- If this is the case in the SEM, the higher energy X-ray lines may not be efficiently generated and low-energy x-rays will have to be used for element identification, e.
- Quantitative EDS X-ray microanalysis using SEM
- The spectra are processed to remove Bremsstrahlung x-rays and spectral artifacts, and then the Characteristic x-rays are compared with data measured from standard reference materials.
- The photoelectric effect
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- X-ray detection by EDS
- The most commonly used system in both SEMs and TEMs for detecting the x-rays that are generated and emitted from the sample is the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS, EDX or XEDS).
- X-ray intensity
- Factors related to the sample, the system used to generate the x-rays and the detector used to measure the X-ray spectrum can all influence the height of the X-ray peaks.
- X-Ray mapping
- The raw data for the image is a matrix of integers corresponding to the number of x-rays counted at each point and these are mapped to a single-band image with 0-255 levels.