title: New pathways for improved quantification of energy-dispersive X-ray spectra of semiconductors with multiple X-ray lines from thin foils investigated in transmission electron microscopy.
abstract: Theoretical approaches to quantify the chemical composition of bulk and thin-layer specimens using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscope are compared to experiments investigating (In)GaAs and Si(Ge) semiconductors. Absorption correctors can be improved by varying the take-off angle to determine the depth of features within the foil or the samples thickness, or by definition of effective k-factors that can be obtained from plots of k-factors versus foil thickness or, preferably, versus the K/L intensity ratio for a suitable element. The latter procedure yields plots of self-consistent absorption corrections that can be used to determine the chemical composition, iteratively for SiGe using a set of calibration curves or directly from a single calibration curve for InGaAs, for single X-ray spectra without knowledge of sample thickness, density or mass absorption coefficients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Parri
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.|now at: IMEC, Kapeldreef 75, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walther
keywords: Analytical transmission electron microscopy; energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy; k-factors; quantification