Mikroprobe JEOL JXA 8530F

The microprobe is equipped with a field emission cathode and five spectrometers (four with two analysis crystals, one with four analysis crystals). It also has a Peltier-cooled EDX system for survey analyses.

Wave dispersive elemental analysis (WDX) has a very low energy resolution of 5 eV. Using WDX, line overlays of different elements can be separated better than with EDX, where the en-ergy resolution is about 130 eV.

WDX is based on prior calibration measurement of the spectrometers against element stand-ards. This means a higher preparation effort, which is compensated by higher accuracy of the analysis as well as the possibility to accurately determine also the content of light elements (e.g. oxygen and carbon). The lightest detectable element is beryllium (atomic number 4).

Holders for different sample sizes are available for the microprobe. The working distance is fixed at 11 mm.

The probe is used, for example, to investigate the distribution of catalytically active elements in sol-gel coatings. Due to the good lateral resolution, local variations in the sample composition can be resolved and distribution images of numerous elements can be recorded at the same time. Stoichiometric compositions, e.g. various chemical compounds in minerals, can also be analyzed