Characterization of Polycapillary Optics Installed in an Analytical Electron Microscope

Characterization of Polycapillary Optics Installed in an Analytical Electron Microscope

Citation

  • Title: Characterization of Polycapillary Optics Installed in an Analytical Electron Microscope
  • Authors: Akira Takano, Keisuke Maehata, Naoko Iyomoto, Toru Hara, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Noriko Yamasaki, and Keiichi Tanaka
  • Journal: JPS Conf. Proc.
  • Volume: 11
  • Article Number: 030003
  • Year: 2016
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSCP.11.030003

Keywords

  • Polycapillary optics
  • Scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM)
  • Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
  • TES microcalorimeter
  • Silicon drift detector (SDD)
  • Focal spot size
  • Intensity gain

Brief

Polycapillary optics installed in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) are characterized to improve the accuracy of nanoscale materials analysis by increasing the detection solid angle of a TES microcalorimeter used in an energy-dispersive spectrometer. 

Summary

The article, "Characterization of Polycapillary Optics Installed in an Analytical Electron Microscope," explores the use of polycapillary optics to enhance the accuracy of nanoscale materials analysis in scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEM).

Here are some key points from the article:

  • The authors note that traditional energy-dispersive spectrometers (EDS) using silicon drift detectors (SDD) have limited energy resolution, hindering precise analysis.
  • A promising alternative is a microcalorimeter with a superconducting transition edge sensor (TES), which offers superior energy resolution.
  • However, TES microcalorimeters are sensitive to magnetic fields and have limited sensitive areas. To address this, the authors propose using polycapillary optics.
  • Polycapillary optics focus X-rays onto the TES microcalorimeter, improving its effective detection solid angle.
  • The article describes the experimental setup and methodology used to characterize the polycapillary optics installed in a STEM.
  • The experimental results, including gain and focal spot size, were found to be largely consistent with the designed values of the polycapillary optics.

The article concludes that using polycapillary optics with a TES microcalorimeter is a viable approach to improving the accuracy of EDS systems in STEM. This research was partially funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency's SENTAN program. 

Origin: https://journals.jps.jp/doi/pdf/10.7566/JPSCP.11.030003
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