X-ray microprobe for the microcharacterization of materials

The authors discuss the unique properties of X rays offer many advantages over those of electrons and other charged particles for the microcharacterization of materials. X rays are more efficient in exciting characteristic X-ray fluorescence and produce higher fluorescence signal-to-background ratios than obtained with electrons. High brightness storage rings, especially in the 7 GeV class with undulators, will have sources as brilliant as the most advanced electron probes. The highly collimated X-ray beams from undulators simplify the X-ray optics required to produce submicron X-ray probes with fluxes comparable to electron sources. Such X-ray microprobes will also produce unprecedentedly low levels of detection in diffraction, EXAFS, Auger, and photoelectron spectroscopies for structural and chemical characterization and elemental identification