The Impact of EDS In Materials Science Microanalysis

Abstract Since its invention in 1968, the EDS has played an essential role in X-ray analysis of materials, at the micrometer level, in the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA). In the EPMA, the characteristic X-ray intensity from bulk specimens is sufficient that, despite its very small collection angle, the wavelength dispersive spectrometer (WDS) can also be used. Given the excellent energy resolution of the WDS it has often been the spectrometer of choice for bulk quantitative X-ray microanalysis. Therefore, the most important role of the EDS has been in X-ray microanalysis of thin specimens in the analytical electron microscope (AEM) because, in an AEM, the limited confines of the stage mean that EDS is the only viable spectrometer. Since the pioneering work of Cliff and Lorimer in the 1970s, EDS has been the method by which all high spatial resolution X-ray microanalysis of thin foils has been performed.