The measurement and calculation of the X-ray spatial resolution obtained in the analytical electron microscope

The X-ray microanalytical spatial resolution is determined experimentally in various analytical electron microscopes by measuring the degradation of an atomically discrete composition profile across an interphase interface in a thin-foil of Ni-Cr-Fe. The experimental spatial resolutions are then compared with calculated values. The calculated spatial resolutions are obtained by the mathematical convolution of the electron probe size with an assumed beam-broadening distribution and the single-scattering model of beam broadening. The probe size is measured directly from an image of the probe in a TEM/SETEM and indirectly from dark-field signal changes resulting from scanning the probe across the edge of an MgO crystal in a dedicated STEM. This study demonstrates the applicability of the convolution technique to the calculation of the microanalytical spatial resolution obtained in the analytical electron microscope. It is demonstrated that, contrary to popular opinion, the electron probe size has a major impact on the measured spatial resolution in foils < 150 nm thick. (author)