The Legacy of Raimond Castaing

 In April 1998 Raimond Castaing left the world of electrons, of ions and others particles, his wife and his family, his numerous students, for the world of stars. Raimond Castaing (Fig. 1) had a very strong personality. No one will forget their first meeting with him and all his students remember how brilliant he was as a teacher. A lot of anecdotes about his famous hot temper are still circulating among his friends and his former students. But in this paper, we would like to evoke Castaing’s memory through his achievements in Instrumental Physics, from the time of his doctoral thesis to later developments with his students, which were all centred on the imaging of the microstructures of materials and their quantitative chemical analysis.     

Application of a synchrotron microprobe to the analytical characterization of ion-implanted material

A synchrotron microprobe has been used to characterize ion implantations of nickel and cobalt in silicon (100) or (111) wafers. The synchrotron radiation is collimated by means of a rigid cylindrical glass capillary of 110 mm length, 5 mm outer and 30 μm or 10 μm inner diameter. The beam is pointed at the wafer sample and the emitted radiation of X-rays is detected by an energy dispersive spectrometer. Line scans are recorded step by step over the implantation areas and across their borders. The sharpness of the borders is characterized at a lateral resolution of 13 μm and the edge lengths ranging from 0.6 to 8 mm are determined with an accuracy better than ± 20 μm. The signal intensity and implantation dose of cobalt ranging from 1 × 10¹⁵ to 1 × 10¹⁷ ions cm⁻² show a linear relationship as is to be expected for the micrometre thin implanted layers.     

纳米级精度分光路双频干涉度量系统的设计

为完成快速、精确的外观轮廓度量,设计了一种新型纳米级精度分光路双频干涉度量系统。系统由低频差双频激光干涉度量模块和微探头及二维工作台两部分组成。微探针以轻敲式接近样品至几十纳米时,受原子力作用发生偏转,利用双频干涉模块度量其纵向偏转量,并对样品进行梳状式度量得到外观形貌。根据双频激光的实际光源,对原有双频干涉度量理论进行了改进提高。进行了系统组建和实验验证。结果表明:系统具有纳米级精度,可用于超精样品外观轮廓度量。     

Laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA) of pyridine adsorbed on some clay minerals from Turkey

Using laser microproble mass analysis (LAMMA), it is possible to characterize the inorganic composition of clays and to study adsorption phenomena. Natural sepiolite, (Na-sepiolite), montmorillonite and saponite samples from Anatolia (Turkey) have been investigated. All the clays gave different fingerprint mass spectra which allowed a quick estimation of the relative amounts of exchangeable cations as well as the trace contaminants and the homogeneity of their distribution. The adsorption behaviour of these clays for pyridine was also studied and it appeared that pyridine molecules penetrated the inner layers, as well as being adsorbed on the external surface.     

Benefits of X-Ray Spectrum Simulation at low Energies

 There are particular benefits in spectrum simulation for the interpretation of characteristic X-ray peaks below about 2 keV in energy, where peak overlaps, a sloping background and changing detector efficiency make it difficult to measure true peak intensities. Despite these difficulties, we have shown that a useful accuracy of simulation is possible without major revision of the existing theory, allowing the electron microprobe user to compare on-line a measured spectrum with one synthesised from an assumed sample composition. As part of a wider study, we have used a database of X-ray spectra from 150 samples of known composition to confirm the accuracy of simulation over the energy range from 0.28–1.9 keV, finding an RMS error of better than 8%. The database included 181 Kα, Lα and Mα peaks from elements of atomic number 6–77, excited by beam voltages from 5–30 kV. Central to the method is the use of the ratio of (Peak Intensity)/(Total Background Intensity), which allows spectra to be compared from instruments of differing collection efficiency, thereby easing the collection of data over a wide range of conditions. Examples are given to illustrate the use of the simulator in helping to choose the best conditions for analysis, and as an aid in interpreting the spectra so obtained. Both modes of operation are iterative in nature and require a fast and accurate simulator that is easy to use. Further development will be guided by experience in its use.     

Electron microprobe analysis of micro amount powder samples: A case study on high purity coal

For the major, minor and trace element analysis of the inorganic compounds of a Ruhr-Saar coal different preparation techniques are investigated with X-ray fluorescence analysis, electron microprobe and classical wet chemical methods minimizing sample weight at standard preparation times and analytical accuracies. Considering accuracy as well as preparation efforts, determinations by electron microprobe on small sample amounts (<50 mg) proved to be superior to the other methods.Abbreviations AAS atomic absorbtion spectrometry - EMA electron microprobe analysis - IC ion chromatography - ISE ion sensitive electrode - PHOT photometry - WCA wet chemical analysis - XRF X-ray fluorescence analysis - LTA low temperature plasma ashing - HTA high temperature ashing - l.o.i. loss on ignition     

钴电极在碱性溶液中氧化还原反应的现场共聚焦显微喇曼光谱研究

采用现场共聚焦显微喇曼光谱研究钴电极在碱性溶液中的氧化还原行为和生成物的喇曼光谱特征.研究结果表明:电位正向扫描时,在-0.64V左右Co氧化生成Co(OH)₂和CoO,随着电位正移逐步生成Co₃O₄,在正电位区电极表面层主要是Co₃O₄、CoOOH和CoO₂等;电位负向扫描时,电极表面上的高价含氧化合物相继还原为Co₃O₄和Co(OH)₂,并最终还原为Co.由不同电位下的生成物的喇曼光谱可以看出:电极表面上的氧化还原反应是随电位变化而逐步进行的连续化反应过程,并主要形成复合含氧化合物.     

Evaluation of the odd-even effect in limits of detection for electron microprobe analysis of natural minerals

Limit of detection (LOD), being a fundamental quality parameter for analytical techniques, has been recently investigated and a systematic behavior has been observed for most odd-even element pairs for many techniques. However, to the best of our knowledge very few LOD data are available in published literature for electron microprobe analysis; these consist of three papers, two being on rare-earth elements and the third covering a large number of elements of atomic number between 21 and 92. These data confirm the systematic behavior of LODs for many odd-even pairs. To initiate to full this gap, we determined LODs for several major rock-forming chemical elements from Na to Fe with atomic numbers between 11 and 26, during the microprobe analysis of common minerals (olivine, plagioclase, pyroxene, amphibole, quartz, and opaques) in volcanic rocks. The odd-even effect of nuclear stability seems to be present in LOD data for most odd-even pairs investigated. Nevertheless, the experimental strategy concerning the reference materials, calibration procedure, and blank measurements, should be substantially modified to better evaluate the systematic behavior of LOD values in microprobe analysis.     

STUDY ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF POLYVINYL CHLORIDE/POLYSTYRENE BLENDS BY ELECTRON MICROPROBE ANALYSIS*

The morphology of polyvinyl chloride/polystyrene (PVC/PS) blend samples with different mass ratios, preparedby means of solution casting and melt mixing, have been successfully examined by electron microprobe analysis (EMP). Thisexperiment was performed in a scanning electron microscope attached to an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer. Differentialscanning calorimetry was also used to investigate the phase separation of the blends. The results show that PVC and PS areincompatible and the blends have sea-islands phase structures. Blends prepared via melt mixing have finer phase-dispersionthan those prepared via solution casting.