Method · SEM-EDX
SEM with EDX in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
Electron imaging with elemental spectra or maps from the X-ray interaction volume. What it answers, what it cannot establish on its own, what a laboratory will ask, and how many Dutch, Belgian and German facilities publish it.
What it answers
- What does a defect, particle or inclusion look like, and which elements does it contain?
- How are elements distributed across a surface or a cross-section?
- How does a foreign particle compare with possible sources in the process or material?
What it cannot establish alone
- Chemical bonding, oxidation state or a unique compound identity from elemental peaks alone.
- Hydrogen or helium; sensitivity to other light or trace elements depends on the detector, sample and measurement conditions.
- Isolate every very thin surface film or tiny particle: the signal can include the substrate or neighbouring material.
- Accurate composition in every geometry without accounting for peak overlap, absorption, preparation and suitable standards.
Before you contact a laboratory
What a laboratory will ask.
A laboratory can say whether it can help only when these are known. Unknowns are fine; say so.
- Material, suspected elements and the particle, coating or defect to investigate.
- Feature size and approximate coating thickness, so the laboratory can assess substrate contributions.
- Sample dimensions, conductivity and vacuum or beam sensitivity.
- Spots, line scans or maps; qualitative identification or quantitative composition; permitted sample preparation.
A question a laboratory can answer
We find black particles of 5–50 µm embedded in a polymer coating on metal panels. We need images and elemental spectra of five particles from two panels to see where they come from.
Potential Dutch, Belgian and German facilities
119 facilities publish SEM-EDX capability in Dresden, Berlin, Stuttgart, Bayreuth, Bielefeld, Chemnitz, Esslingen am Neckar, Freiburg, Halle (Saale), Hannover, Jena, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Mainz, Noordwijk, Saarbrücken, Schmalkalden, Wildau, Aachen, Aalen, Amsterdam, Aschaffenburg, Aschheim, Augsburg, Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, Bamberg, Brandenburg an der Havel, Braunschweig, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brussels, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Darmstadt, Deggendorf, Delft, Denkendorf, Diepholz, Duisburg, Eindhoven, Enschede, Erfurt, Erlangen, Frankfurt (Oder), Freiberg, Fürth, Garching, Geesthacht, Gelsenkirchen, Genk, Göttingen, Greifswald, Gummersbach, Hamburg, Hamm, Heilbronn, Kaiserslautern, Kempten, Kleve, Koblenz, Köln, Krefeld, Lemgo, Louvain-la-Neuve, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Mittweida, Mons, Mülheim an der Ruhr, München, Namur, Nürnberg, Oberhausen, Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Paderborn, Petten, Pforzheim, Potsdam, Radeberg, Rudolstadt, Rüsselsheim am Main, Sankt Augustin, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Siegen, Solingen, Steinfurt, Stralsund, Tübingen, Utrecht, Weimar, Weingarten, Wismar, Wolfenbüttel, Würzburg and Zwijnaarde.
Leads are based on published capabilities; current suitability and availability must be confirmed with the laboratory.
Describe your sample and question. The first answer is free and needs no account; laboratory names are shown in a free workspace.
Often combined with
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopyElemental composition and chemical state of the near-surface region, optionally with sputter depth profiling.
Problems where it helps
- Coating delamination: finding the causeHow to investigate a coating that lifts, blisters or peels: which measurements show where the failure runs and why, and what to prepare.
- Coating failure analysis: from symptom to causeHow to analyse a coating that cracks, discolours, corrodes or wears: compare failed and intact parts and test the likely explanations.