The electron microprobe is a critical tool for many of our customers.
It provides information about chemical composition, distribution of chemical constituents, molecular structure and surface topography.
This type of information is often used to:
- Qualitatively identify alloys
- Evaluate plating/coating composition and thickness
- Identify the composition of contaminants/residues/stains
- Determine what equipment is delivering metal shavings in to your process
- Ascertain the composition of materials trapped in filters
- Characterize chemical distribution profiles
- Identify products of corrosion
- Study cracked weld/braze joints.
The electron microprobe can be used to thoroughly study a feature of interest. For example, in the photo to the right, detailed information about the chemical composition is over-laid on to a surface topography map. Each chemical element is assigned a different color. These techniques, combined with others available at the lab, will provide a fundamental understanding of what’s happening in any material investigation.
Our electron microprobe is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that has been optimized for flexibility and accuracy in elemental analysis. It is equipped with two fixed and four scanning WDS as well as high throughput EDS for qualitative and quantitative standard-based chemical analysis.
The high probe current enables rapid collection of excellent X-ray maps. Seven wavelength spectrometers determine a material's elemental composition on a microscopic scale.
Lucideon has been providing electron microprobe analysis for nearly 40 years, and our latest microprobe was recently upgraded with state of the art hardware and software. We now offer:
- One of the world's fastest electron microprobes with seven wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometers (WDS) and a silicon drift detector energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SDD-EDS).
- Ultra-fast color X-ray element mapping with Bruker Quantax software capable of incorporating signals from both EDS and WDS detectors.
- The highest take-off angle of any commercial electron microprobe for the greatest accuracy and sensitivity.
- Able to determine nearly the entire periodic table of elements, from boron to uranium on a microscopic scale.
- CamScan CS3000 digital imaging for high quality SEM images.
- Full-service contract always maintained for superior up-time.
Our microprobe analysis supports critical client projects in research & development, product design, manufacturing, quality control and failure analysis in the following areas: power generation, automotive, aerospace & defense, nuclear, electrical, medical devices, coatings, welds, brazes, minerals and the identification of unknown materials.