Advances in energy dispersive X‐ray microanalysis

Some of the recent advances in energy dispersive X‐ray microanalysis of bulk specimens are reviewed with special emphasis on the developments having led to more accurate results. Following a brief description of instrumental developments the sources of background counts and the background correction are discussed. The final chapter deals with some useful applications of the background. In conclusion, one can state that in many cases the energy dispersive spectrometer yields results the accuracy of which is comparable to that of crystal spectrometers. In special cases the reproducibility achievable with the EDS can even be better.