WDSX

Wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometer for the soft X-ray range (50 … 2000eV)

Project funding

Program

AIF Projekt GmbH

Zentrale Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand
ZIM

Project partner

NOB Nano Optics Berlin GmbH

Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH)
ausführende Stelle: Gemeinschaftslabor für Elektronenmikroskopie (GFE)

LFM Mikroanalytik GmbH

Institut
für angewandte Photonik e.V.

Duration

Start : 01.09.2019
End:    31.03.2022

Project goal

Development of a new type of grating-based wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, which, thanks to its high variability, can be customized to REM and ESMA devices from different manufacturers. The innovation relates to reflective Fresnel optics (RZP) on a curved surface and thus increased light intensity, which allows the detection of chemical elements (X-ray fluorescence lines) with high resolution up to the element Li. The design of the optics is based on customer specifications and enables the parallel measurement of many fluorescence lines. This results in significantly shorter measurement times compared to conventional WDX spectrometers. In addition to the design and construction of a demonstrator, the project also includes the development of hardware-related software and evaluation software for qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Features

 – Energy range 50 eV bis 2000 eV
Energy resolution E/∆E up to 1000 possible
Simultaneous measurement in the entire energy range
Curved (spherical or toroidal) substrates
Continuous spectrum with only 2-3 RZP per substrate (resolution only limited by the pixel size of the CCD camera)
Light yield increased by approx. 5 to 10 times compared to RZPs on planar substrates
Efficiency up to approx. 25%
Measurement times significantly shorter in the entire energy range with high detection sensitivity

Application area

This WDSX is optimized for use with scanning electron microscopes (SEM).