Phase Identification and Distribution Analysis of Little-known, Multi-phase Containing Materials
Fig. 1.1: Pattern Quality Map depicting the microstructure of highly alloyed Fe-Si ceramic composite; EBSD and EDS maps were acquired simultaneously using eFlash XS and respectively XFlash EDS detector mounted on JSM IT200 SEM.
QUANTAX ED-XS is a fully integrated EDS & EBSD system which enables a wide range of analysis types using EDS or EBSD alone or involving both techniques simultaneously. Innovative and powerful capabilities combined with an optimized workflow simplify data acquisition process and maximize SEM efficiency for analyses like identification of unknown crystallographic phases present in a sample.
SEM use is minimized by acquiring simultaneously an EBSD map and an EDS HyperMap without having to know all present phases. The map containing EDS & EBSD data is subsequently processed offline to identify all phases present and complete the map using ESPRIT 2’ ultra-fast reanalysis speed in a comfortable and efficient manner.
Fig. 1.2: Pattern Quality Map overlapped with phase map showing Si grains in red; to minimize the time required to setup the EBSD measurement on samples with unknown type and number of phases, one can launch the acquisition without identifying all phases; all other phases can be identified offline, at a latter time and complete the map using the extreme re-indexing power of ESPRIT software
Fig. 1.3: Functioning principle of “Advaced Phase ID” feature used offline (Part I); a multitude of automatic and semiautomatic features assist the user in this process, e.g. semi-automatic search of phase candidates based on EDS results, automatic & ultrafast indexing of all candidate phases, automatic classification based on quality of fit to experimental pattern, etc.
Fig. 1.4: Functioning principle of “Advaced Phase ID” feature used offline (Part II); regions colored in “aqua” represent grains of Zirconium Silicide (ZrSi2); map was reanalyzed in 13seconds at a speed of more than 24,000 points/sec.
Fig. 1.5: Functioning principle of “Advanced Phase ID” feature used offline (Part III); complete phase map of highly alloyed Fe-Si ceramic material containing six different crystallographic phases; reanalysis with 6 phases took 48 seconds at a speed of more than 6,500 points/sec. No data cleaning applied!
Fig. 1.6: EDS HyperMap showing the distribution of Ti, Ca, Zr, Ag and C map in the highly alloyed Fe-Si ceramic; map contains one EDS spectrum for each of its 309,000 pixels and was acquired simultaneously with EBSD map at a speed of 50points/sec; Ag and C rich regions are cracks or porosities in the sample filled with Ag paste and epoxy material during polishing.