Microcalorimeter energy-dispersive spectrometry using a low voltage scanning electron microscope

We describe the current performance of the prototype microcalorimeter energy-dispersive spectrometer (&mgr;cal EDS) developed at NIST for X-ray microanalysis. We show that the low-energy &mgr;cal EDS, designed for operation in the energy range 0.2-2 keV, offers significant advantages for low-beam-energy microanalysis. We present several examples in which the prototype &mgr;cal EDS has been used to solve problems in low-voltage microanalysis, including the analysis of tungsten silicide (WSi2), titanium nitride (TiN) and barium titanate (BaTiO3) and the measurement of chemical shifts in Fe and C compounds.