Live wt.% linescan across the cutting edge of a razor blade sample

Gatan instrument used

EDAX^® Octane Elite system and EDAX APEX™ software for EDS

Background

Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) Linescan mode collects a spectrum across a line defined by the user. It is especially useful in determining compositional profiles or gradients within a sample. By default, the live linescan is shown as a region of interest (ROI) for the simplicity of generating data. By definition, the Y-axis of the ROI linescan profile is raw counts, preventing a direct interpretation of the variation in at.% and/or wt.% of each element across the line. Other limitations of the ROI linescan are background contributions, overlapping regions for x-ray lines close in energy, and shadow and absorption artifacts. To overcome these shortcomings, a full quantification routine can be run on every point, and the linescan profile can be shown in at.% or wt.%. A spectrum can be extracted from any point on the line for further data processing.