Microcalorimeter EDS Measurements of Chemical Shifts in Fe Compounds

Abstract We report measurements of chemical shifts in the Fe-L x-ray lines of different Fe compounds from xray emission spectra acquired using a microcalorimeter energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The observed changes in peak position and relative intensity of the Fe-L x-ray lines are in agreement with measurements obtained using a wavelength dispersive spectrometer (WDS), demonstrating the usefulness of microcalorimeter EDS for high-energy-resolution x-ray microanalysis. Chemical shifts result from changes in electron binding energies with the chemical environment of atoms. In x-ray spectra, chemical shifts lead to changes in x-ray peak positions, relative peak intensities, and peak shapes. These chemical bonding effects can be significant (with x-ray peak shifts on the order of 1 eV), particularly for x-ray lines resulting from transitions involving valence electrons of light elements such as B and C.