X-ray spectrometric applications of a synchrotron x-ray microbeam

Synchrotron x-ray microbeams with less than a few μm spatial resolution have been applied to x-ray spectroscopic and diffraction studies. Among various x-ray spectrometric applications, the relatively new techniques of near-surface x-ray fluorescence analysis and the micro x-ray absorption fine structure (micro-XAFS) method have been developed. For a near-surface analysis, the grazing-exit condition is used to enhance the surface sensitivity in addition to the lateral spatial resolution. With the micro-XAFS technique, chemical-state analysis over small regions and chemical-state imaging become possible. A micro x-ray spectrometric analysis with high spatial resolution was effectively utilized for materials characterization.