Characterizing contaminants on a rough surface with dual EDS detectors

Gatan instrument used

EDAX^® Octane Elect dual EDS detector system and EDAX APEX™ software for EDS

Background

Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mapping is a fast and straightforward approach to evaluating contaminants on a sample surface. However, EDS mapping on a sample with a rough or fractured surface can be difficult because of shadowing and topographic effects. Additional complexities result from surfaces that are significantly inclined towards the detector and from other surfaces sloping away from the detector. With the Dual Detector feature in APEX, these effects can be mitigated by simultaneously mapping with dual EDS detectors with different azimuthal angles and then merging the two sets of maps.