Rapid and Precise Method for Analysis of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectra

A new, precise, and rapid method for the analysis of energy dispersive x-ray spectra generated by electron beam or x-ray excitation is presented. It includes the use of Gaussian profiles and a polynomial of 1/E (where E is the x-ray energy) to represent the observed x-ray characteristic lines and background, automatic sectioning of the entire spectrum, and a figure of merit to estimate goodness of fit. Details of the method and its programming techniques are given. Results of analyzing complicated energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectra of multi-element alloys are presented.