title: Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy for nanostructured thin film density evaluation.
abstract: In this paper, we report on two fast and non-destructive methods for nanostructured film density evaluation based on a combination of energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy for areal density measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for thickness evaluation. These techniques have been applied to films with density ranging from the density of a solid down to a few [Formula: see text], with different compositions and morphologies. The high resolution of an electron microprobe has been exploited to characterize non-uniform films both at the macroscopic scale and at the microscopic scale.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Prencipe
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dellasega
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Passoni
keywords: 68.37.Hk; 78.70.En; EDS; areal density; density evaluation; foam; thin film