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The Microanalysis System

What makes a Good Detector?

The Pulse Processor

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System Components
EDS detector components
How the EDS detector works

Energy Dispersive Spectrometry Hardware

The Microanalysis System

Introduction

Ease of use has become a major focus in the selection of EDS analyzers. The hardware that acquires the data is often taken for granted. The detection and measurement of X-rays in an electron microscope requires a complex measurement chain, which, if functioning correctly, can provide the accurate and stable data required to complement the software and allow reliable automatic peak identification and standardless quantitative analysis. The test of a good design is whether results on a given sample remain accurate irrespective of changing count rate or environment. This guide introduces the operation of the EDS hardware, and highlights the important aspects that make a difference in accurate and efficient X-ray analysis.

Principal Components

An EDS system is comprised of three basic components that must be designed to work together to achieve optimum results.

	X-ray Detector   Detects and converts X-rays into electronic signals		Pulse Processor   Measures the electronic signals to determine the energy of each X-ray detected
Element Weight% Atomic% Si 0.32 0.68 Cr 18.84 20.00 Mn 1.39 1.42 Fe 70.25 69.31 Ni 8.76 8.24 Cu 0.21 0.20 Mo 0.23 0.15 Totals 100.00 100.00
	Analyzer   Displays and interprets the X-ray data

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