Compositional Averaging of Backscatter Intensities in Compounds

We present high-precision measurements of pure element stable isotope pairs that demonstrate mass has no influence on the backscattering of electrons at typical electron microprobe energies. The traditional prediction of average backscatter intensities in compounds was pragmatically based on element...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microscopy and microanalysis 2003-06, Vol.9 (3), p.202-215
Main Authors: Donovan, John J., Pingitore, Nicholas E., Westphal, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Copper - chemistry
Electron Probe Microanalysis - methods
Electrons
Isotopes - analysis
Light
Mathematics
Molybdenum - chemistry
Nickel - chemistry
Scattering, Radiation
Stable isotopes
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Summary:We present high-precision measurements of pure element stable isotope pairs that demonstrate mass has no influence on the backscattering of electrons at typical electron microprobe energies. The traditional prediction of average backscatter intensities in compounds was pragmatically based on elemental mass fractions. Our isotopic measurements establish that this approximation has no physical basis. We propose an alternative model to mass fraction averaging, based on the number of electrons or protons, termed “electron fraction,” which predicts backscatter yield better than mass fraction averaging. We also present an improved backscatter (electron loss) factor based on a modified electron fraction average for the ZAF atomic number correction that provides a significant analytical improvement, especially where large atomic number corrections are required.
ISSN:1431-9276
1435-8115
DOI:10.1017/S1431927603030137