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Published 1993 | public
Book Section - Chapter

Effects of carbon coat thickness and contamination on quantitative analysis: a new look at an old problem

Abstract

Due to considerable improvements in electronic stability and detector sensitivity, modern electron microprobes and SEMs have the capability of routinely making x-ray measurements much more precisely than previously possible (often with a precision of as low as a few parts per thousand). The improvements in measurement precision, however, have not necessarily resulted in significant improvements in analytical accuracy. Factors that were once considered secondary now have may have significant importance in the accuracy of high-precision analyses. Among these is the variability in thickness of the carbon (or other conducting element) film evaporated or sputtered on insulating samples and standards. In this paper, we reexamine the effect the conducting surface layer has on emitted x-ray intensities. We show that (1) not accounting for variations in carbon coat thickness between sample and standard can result in systematic analytical errors greater than 1%, and (2) that the effect of carbon coat thickness on emitted x-ray intensities can be adequately corrected for using current φ(ρz) models and data reduction programs for thin film analysis.

Additional Information

© 1993 VCH.

Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
January 14, 2024