Exploring the limits of EDS microanalysis: rare earth element analyses

It is a great time to be a microanalyst. After a few decades of incremental progress in energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), the last decade has seen the accuracy and precision surge forward. Today, the question is not whether EDS is generally useful but to identify the types of problems for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering 2018-01, Vol.304 (1), p.12013
Main Authors: Ritchie, N W M, Newbury, D E, Lowers, H, Mengason, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy
Rare earth elements
Scientific imaging
Spectrometry
Trace elements
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Summary:It is a great time to be a microanalyst. After a few decades of incremental progress in energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), the last decade has seen the accuracy and precision surge forward. Today, the question is not whether EDS is generally useful but to identify the types of problems for which wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometry remains the better choice. The full extent of EDS's capabilities has surprised many. Low Z, low energy, and trace element detection have been demonstrated even in the presence of extreme peak interferences. In this paper, we will summarise the state-of-the-art and investigate a challenging problem domain, the analysis of minerals bearing multiple rare-earth elements.
ISSN:1757-8981
1757-899X
DOI:10.1088/1757-899X/304/1/012013