MICROPROBE TECHNIQUES AND INSTRUMENTATION

Proton microprobes employ a wide range of techniques. Most of the possible interactions between a beam particle and the specimen may be utilised to analyse or image the specimen. Though the commonest analytical technique adopted is PIXE, this is frequently combined with other techniques which greatly enhance its power. These techniques may be used to supplement the PIXE data set, normalise it, confirm its validity or identify its origin. PIXE is also used to supplement data from other techniques. Instrumentation now available can analyse many features of a specimen, commonly at resolutions of microns, and image at resolutions down to 50 nm. © 1990.