Measuring Performance of Energy-Dispersive X-ray Systems

Abstract As Si(Li) detector technology has matured, many of the fundamental problems have been addressed in the competition among manufacturers and there is now an expectation, implied by many textbooks, that all energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) detectors are made and will perform in the same way. Although there has been some convergence in Si(Li) systems and these are still the most common, manufacturing recipes still differ and there are many alternative EDX devices, such as microcalorimeters and room temperature detectors, that have both advantages and disadvantages over Si(Li). Rather than emphasizing differences in technologies, performance measures should reveal benefits relevant to the intended application. The instrument is inevitably going to be a “black box” of integrated components; this article reviews some of the methods that have been applied and introduces some new techniques that can be used to assess performance without resorting to complex software or sophisticated mathematical algorithms. Sensitivity, resolution, artefacts, and stability are discussed with particular application to compositional analysis using electron beam excitation of X-rays in the 100-eV to 10-keV energy region.