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Quantitative Elemental Analysis of Individual Microparticles with Electron Beam Instruments

  • Chapter
Electron Probe Quantitation

Abstract

Chemical characterization of individual microparticles is of importance to a number of applications including air pollution and occupational health research, pathology, geology and cosmochemistry (e.g., background tropospheric aerosols and interplanetary dust particles), experimental petrology, corrosion and pigments research, forensic chemistry, fallout and explosives studies, and a variety of materials research areas. A number of microbeam analysis techniques have proven useful for such chemical characterization (e.g., optical microscopy, laser Raman spectroscopy, LAMMA, ion microprobe analysis). One of the most commonly used techniques is x-ray emission analysis with electron microbeam instruments (electron microprobe, SEM, analytical electron microscope). Size distribution, morphometric, electron diffraction and qualitative elemental analysis of microparticles have become straightforward applications for electron microbeam instruments; however, quantitative elemental analysis of individual microparticles has remained one of the most difficult applications for these instruments and has been seriously pursued by relatively few researchers. This paper will consider analytical techniques and correction procedures to enable quantitative analysis of individual microparticles and the magnitude of analytical error to be expected in using these procedures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA

    John T. Armstrong

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

    K. F. J. Heinrich  & Dale E. Newbury  & 

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Armstrong, J.T. (1991). Quantitative Elemental Analysis of Individual Microparticles with Electron Beam Instruments. In: Heinrich, K.F.J., Newbury, D.E. (eds) Electron Probe Quantitation. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2617-3_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2617-3_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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