ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the physical processes which control the generation of characteristic peaks and the continuum radiation on which the peaks are superimposed, the basis of the x-ray detection, energy measurement and display system, and which together determine the peak widths and the continuum shape. It also describes the different methods for deriving quantitative information, and sensitivity limits and spatial resolution. Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) is the principal method for performing chemical analysis in the transmission electron microscope. The overall performance of an EDX system on an Analytical Electron Microscope (AEM) is influenced by the design of the microscope and the collimation of the detector. An incident high-energy electron can lose kinetic energy during a collision with a bound electron in an atom of the AEM sample, ejecting the bound electron and leaving an ionised atom with a hole in the electron structure.
