QUANTIFICATION OF LOW ENERGY X-RAY DETECTION IN EDS DETECTORS
A new approach to characterize low energy performance of energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) detectors for application in scanning electron microscopy is proposed. In this approach an empirical parameter is computed from the x-ray spectra. This parameter represents absorption of lower energy x-rays by the EDS detector and depends on electron beam conditions and the specimen-detector configuration in the scanning electron microscope. The ease of computation of this empirical parameter and its sensitivity to detector specifications enable the use of this parameter as an evaluation tool for various EDS detectors.
scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-rays, Si(Li) detectors, x-ray absorption, detector efficiency
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