Low-voltage electron-probe microanalysis of Fe-Si compounds using soft X-rays.

Conventional electron-probe microanalysis has an X-ray analytical spatial resolution on the order of 1-4 μm width/depth. Many of the naturally occurring Fe-Si compounds analyzed in this study are smaller than 1 μm in size, requiring the use of lower accelerating potentials and nonstandard X-ray lines for analysis. Problems with the use of low-energy X-ray lines (soft X-rays) of iron for quantitative analyses are discussed and a review is given of the alternative X-ray lines that may be used for iron at or below 5 keV (i.