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Quantitative X‐ray microanalysis of uranium alloys with the analytical electron microscope
Author(s) -
Romig A. D.
Publication year - 1984
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.1365-2818.1984.tb00519.x
Subject(s) - microanalysis , uranium , scattering , electron , scanning electron microscope , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , electron microscope , materials science , optics , physics , nuclear physics , metallurgy , organic chemistry , chromatography
SUMMARY X‐ray microanalysis in the analytical electron microscope (AEM) is a powerful tool for studying elemental segregation on a submicrometre scale. This technique has been applied to uranium and its alloys. Materials such as uranium are strong electron scatterers due to their high density and high atomic numbers. Hence, when performing AEM X‐ray microanalysis on such materials special attention must be given to effects such as electron scattering and X‐ray absorption. The objective of this paper is to describe the techniques which are required to perform quantitative X‐ray microanalysis in these heavy metal alloys (U‐Nb, U‐Mo and U‐Ti). Cliff‐Lorimer k ‐factors determined experimentally and theoretically are in good agreement. Electron scattering has been studied experimentally and the results are compared to those obtained by Monte Carlo calculations and the single scattering model. X‐ray spatial resolutions of better than 100 nm are attainable. With the proper selection of characteristic X‐ray lines, X‐ray absorption can be avoided in most cases to the limit of electron transparency, ∼ 100 nm.