Interference technique in grazing-emission electron probe microanalysis of submicrometer particles

The distribution of X-ray radiation from a small particle, situated on a flat support and excited by an electron beam, is analyzed theoretically. The interference pattern, appearing within the region of grazing take-off angles, is shown to contain valuable information about the particle structure and composition. It also provides the resources for extracting this information that are valid even in conditions of extremely low signals (e.g. for very small samples), when the effect of background suppression for angles of the total reflection region is insufficient. Characteristic elements of the interference pattern are found that are relatively independent on the noise caused by the support radiation. Algorithms for this noise correction and elimination are proposed. An approximate formalism for the particle structure retrieval, based on the Fourier-transformation properties, is described. Potential applications of the proposed technique are illustrated with numerical models of spherical and hemispherical particles, both homogeneous and of ‘core-and-shell’ structures, with total sizes between 30 and 200 nm. The additional possibilities of studying the shape, structure and elemental composition of small particles have been demonstrated. The general conditions of the experimental realization of proposed methods are discussed.