New experimental equipment for grazing-exit electron-probe microanalysis

New grazing-exit electron-probe microanalysis (GE-EPMA) equipment is develo ped. In GE-EPMA, characteristic x rays are measured at the grazing-exit ang le. X rays emitted from deep positions in the substrate are reduced under g razing-exit conditions; therefore, surface-sensitive analysis is possible w ith low background. In previous equipments, the sample holder was tilted to change the exit angle. In this new equipment, the energy-dispersive x-ray detector is moved to change the exit angle, and the analyzed position is st able even if the exit angle is changed. Therefore, this equipment is useful especially for particle analysis. The new GE-EPMA equipment is applied to Pd-Se-Te single-particle analysis. Although it was difficult to measure the Se K alpha line at an exit angle of 45 degrees due to the large Au L beta radiation emitted from the Au substrate, Se K alpha was measured without an y Au signals at the grazing-exit angle near zero. (C) 2001 American Institu te of Physics.