DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING

EG433: SURFACE ENGINEERING SEM/ESEM/EDX TUTORIAL SHEET

1. Which SEM image mode, detector system and kV would you recommend for examining the following: (a) very fine detail on a metal fracture surface; (b) distinguishing particles of Si in between an array of SiC crystals and/or buried particles of silicon in the same material; (c) examining crack initiation in a SiC/SiC composite specimen; (d) looking for thin particles of Cu transferred to an aluminium surface by wear; (e) detecting an electron channelling pattern; (f) obtaining quantitative chemical analysis information; (g) the topography of SiC whisker crystals ~1m thick; (h) debonding of TiN layers on a steel substrate; (i) the fracture surface of a polymeric fuel pipe line given that it is being used in a forensic investigation and the specimen cannot be modified or altered.

2. The maximum penetration range, Re, of electrons of energy Eo(kV) into a solid of density p (in g cm-3 or Mgm-3) is given by

Re =

3.6102 2

Calculate the penetration of i) 1kV, ii) 10kV, iii) 30kV electrons into, copper ( =2.1), aluminium, ( = 2.7), steel ( = 7.86) and gold ( = 19.3).

3. (a) Determine the energy in eV of a K X-ray photon from a chromium atom (Zr = 24)

SVH, EG433, Tutorial Sheet 1

(b) Determine the number of electron-hole pairs generated in an EDX detector when a K photon from a chromium atom impinges on it, if the detector has a calibration of 3.50eV per electron-hole pair. (c) Determine the total current carried by the electron-hole pairs in (b) if the detector delivers a square current pulse of 9.5s duration in response to each X-ray photon impinging on it (each pair effectively contributes one unit of charge: electron charge, e = 1.6x10-19 C). (d) If the current pulse from the detector in (c) is delivered to an amplifier of 20M effective resistance, use Ohms law to show that the amplitude of the voltage pulse (assumed to be square) resulting from the detection of a K photon from a chromium atom is ~0.6mV. (e) Before entering a production line, the composition of an alloy steel stock containing chromium is routinely checked by X-ray analysis using an instrument fitted with the detector in part (b). If an analysis of the steel gave 140 counts per second at 0.58mV, 1110 counts at 0.68mV and 250 counts per second at 0.79mV: i) ii) determine the atomic number of the constituent elements using the periodic table, identify the elements and estimate their abundance in the steel in atomic per cent.

4. What steps would you take to prepare a specimen for quantitative X-ray microanalysis. For each step, explain the reason why this is important in terms of the beam specimen interactions that occur.

SVH, EG433, Tutorial Sheet 1