Live Elemental Mapping of Sn–Cu Solder Region in Al-Si Alloy with ESPRIT LiveMap

Bruker's XFlash® 7 EDS detectors, with a large solid angle and high-performance pulse processing, enable fast live elemental mapping using ESPRIT LiveMap with output count rates up to 1000 kcps.

ESPRIT LiveMap can be used for a multitude of applications where identification of a region of interest (ROI) is necessary, for example for the location of intermetallics, contamination, interface regions, trace elements, etc. Features such as automatic identification of elements and online deconvolution of overlapping peaks are integrated in ESPRIT LiveMap.

This example shows live elemental mapping via EDS SEM of an Al-Si alloy with a transient liquid phase (TLP) bonded Sn-Cu interlayer or brazing seam. The complex distribution of the microstructure of different layers can be seen. The top layer is the Al-Si alloy and the bottom is the Sn-Cu brazing seam region. Cr contamination was automatically identified and added to the map data. This example demonstrates how ESPRIT LiveMap can be used to locate contamination in the Cu-Sn brazing seam.

ESPRIT LiveMap features:

  • Live SEM elemental mapping with high output count rate of up to 1000 kcps
  • Automated live elemental identification of the sample surface composition 
  • Spectrum extraction of localized features using mapping objects
  • Live identification of trace elements (single pixel enrichment)
  • Live update of detected elements (manual or automatic)
  • User defined resolution for ESPRIT LiveMap and easy switch to conventional mapping
Live chemical mapping showing different regions of Al-Si alloy with TLP bonded Sn-Cu brazing seam. (Sample courtesy of Dr. Alexander Schwedt, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany)