Energy dispersive analysis in the TEM

Large area silicon drift detectors have been very successful as an analytical tool when used in conjunction with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Sensors with detectors of up to 80mm2 have been employed for such tasks as fast area mapping, linescans, fast quantitative analysis and analysis of nanoparticles in SEMs at low accelerating voltages. Thin samples may also be analysed in scanning transmission (STEM) mode in high resolution field emission SEMs. In this case the large sensor area improves the collection efficiency improving the X-ray count rate significantly. The use of these detectors for analysis in the analytical transmission electron microscope (TEM) offers certain advantages over traditional liquid nitrogen cooled Si(Li) detectors while also increasing solid angle for improved signal acquisition.