Eur. Phys. J. AP 14, 143-146 (2001)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:2001150

Feasibility of X-ray fluorescence imaging in a SEM using pinhole relay optics

Dynamique des Transferts aux Interfaces (DTI) (CNRS UMR 6107), Faculté des Sciences, BP 1039, 51687 Reims Cedex 2, France

Corresponding authors: damien.erre@univ-reims.fr hussein.jibaoui@univ-reims.fr

Received: 1 August 2000
Revised: 1 December 2000
Accepted: 13 February 2001
Published online: 15 May 2001

Abstract

The feasibility of imaging by X-ray fluorescence in a SEM has been tested on a simple laboratory set-up. It has been demonstrated that images generated by the fluorescent X-rays can be directly obtained with the use of simple pinhole relay optics and an incident X-ray beam created in a SEM. These images were acquired with a charge coupled device (CCD) camera coupled to a phosphor screen by a fibre-optic faceplate. This technique provides chemical and topographical images with a spatial resolution in the object plane of a few micrometres. This “global” imaging has the advantage that the acquisition time is only a few minutes for a sample surface of a few mm².