Micro-XAFS and chemical imaging techniques have been widely applied for studies of heterogeneously distributed systems, mostly in hard X-ray (>5 keV) or in soft X-ray (<1.5 keV) energies. The microprobe endstation of the SXRMB (soft X-ray microcharacterization beamline) at the Canadian Light Source is optimized at the medium energy (1.7-5 keV), and it has been recently commissioned and is avail...

Different modes of SIMS for thin film analysis and the principle of SIMS will be discussed; this will be followed by a discussion of some features related to instrumentation: types of ion sources and their characteristics; ion microprobe versus ion microscope; special modes of SIMS: sputter neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) and fast atom bombardment. (FAB). The discussion of analytical features ...

A peak-to-background method was implemented for standardless electron microprobe analysis of bulk samples and particles. First, a study on the choice of the beam entry point was performed; the region of the particle closest to the detector proved to be the most convenient. Then, a very simple algorithm, which does not require any kind of standard, was developed for particle analysis. This metho...

Over the past 20 years, the minimum probe size for nuclear microscopy has stayed around 1 micrometre. No breakthroughs in nuclear microprobe design have been forthcoming to produce dramatic improvements in spatial resolution. The difficulties of breaking the constraints that are preventing reduction of the probe size have been well recognised in the past. Over the past 5 years it has become cle...