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PUBLICATIONS

EDS Microanalysis: Pushing the Limits

Published

Author(s)

Nicholas Ritchie, Dale E. Newbury, Michael Mengason, Heather Lowers

Abstract

It is a great time to be a microanalyst. After a few decades of incremental progress in energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), the last decade has seen the accuracy and precision surge forward. Today, the question is not whether EDS is generally useful but to identify the types of problems for which wavelength spectrometry remains the better choice. The full extent of EDS's capabilities has surprised many. Low Z, low energy, and trace element detection have been demonstrated even in the presence of difficult peak interferences. In this paper, we will summarize the state-of-the-art and investigate a couple of extremely challenging problem domains, analysis of natural rare-earth element bearing minerals and nickel silicides.
Citation
Materials Science and Engineering
Pub Type
Journals

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Keywords

SDD, Silicon Drift Detector, EDS, Energy Dispersive Spectrometry, WDS, Wavelength Dispersive Spectrometry, Rare earth elements, Nickel silicides
Materials characterization, Composition and structure, Chemistry and Analytical chemistry

Citation

Ritchie, N. , Newbury, D. , Mengason, M. and Lowers, H. (2018), EDS Microanalysis: Pushing the Limits, Materials Science and Engineering, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=923099 (Accessed October 11, 2025)

Issues

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Created June 1, 2018, Updated September 29, 2025
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