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Analysis of droplets from iso‐atomic solutions as a means of calibrating a transmission electron analytical microscope (TEAM)
Author(s) -
Morgan A. J.,
Davies T. W.,
Erasmus D. A.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1975.tb04025.x
Subject(s) - analytical chemistry (journal) , transmission electron microscopy , chemistry , instrumentation (computer programming) , atomic number , cobalt , sensitivity (control systems) , materials science , nanotechnology , chromatography , atomic physics , physics , inorganic chemistry , computer science , operating system , electronic engineering , engineering
SUMMARY This paper describes a spraying method of producing iso‐atomic droplets (≅3 μm diameter) of uniform size, distribution and chemical composition. These droplets were used to calibrate a TEAM system operated under given conditions, so that the relative sensitivity of the instrumentation for the elements Na, Mg, P, S, (Cl), K, Ca and Co (‘overall sensitivity factors’) could be determined. These factors (15, 40, 83, 90, (43), 104, 109, 100% respectively) were used to convert observed X‐ray intensity ratios from standard droplets to relative amounts of elements with a fair degree of accuracy (error generally less than ± 10%). It was proposed that the sampling and quantification methods could be applied for the absolute quantitative bulk‐analysis of fluids and tissues (after solubilization) with an introduced reference element, e.g. cobalt, and potentially to the study of relative elemental ratios in fluid microvolumes and in biological thin sections.