Material analysis applications

Over the last seventeen year s the Analytical center at our Institute amassed the actual material on the application of XRF method to the quantitative determination of some major (Mg, Al, P, S, Cl, K, Ti, Mn, Fe) and trace (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ba, La, Ce, Pb, Th, U) element contents [1, 2]. This paper presents the specific features of developed techniques for the determination of 25 element contents in different types of rocks using new Biaiker Pioneer automated spectrometer connected to Intel Pentium IV. The special features of X-ray fluorescence analysis application to the determination of analyzed elements in various types of rocks are presented. The softwai e of this new X-ray spectrometer allows to choose optimal calibration equations and the coefficients for accounting for line overlaps by Equant program and to make a mathematic processing of the calibration ai ray of CRMs measured by the Loader program. 

Computers will be integrated more and more into commercial SEMs and there is an enormous potential for the growth of computer supported applications. At the same time, related instruments will be developed and extended, such as the scanning ion microscope, which uses liquid-metal ion sources to produce finely focused ion beams that can produce SEs and secondary ions for image generation. The contrast mechanisms that are exhibited in these instruments can provide new insights into materials analysis. 

Early work in ellipsometry focused on improving the technique, whereas attention now emphasizes applications to materials analysis. New uses continue to be found however, ellipsometry traditionally has been used to determine film thicknesses (in the rang 1-1000 nm), as well as optical constants. " Common systems are oxide and nitride films on silicon v ers, dielectric films deposited on optical sur ces, and multilayer semiconductor strucmres. 

Three common uses of RBS analysis exist quantitative depth profiling, areal concentration measurements (atoms/cm ), and crystal quality and impurity lattice site analysis. Its primary application is quantitative depth profiling of semiconductor thin films and multilayered structures. It is also used to measure contaminants and to study crystal structures, also primarily in semiconductor materials. Other applications include depth profilii of polymers, high-T superconductors, optical coatings, and catalyst particles. ... 

ICPMS, although a young technique, has become a powerful tool for the analysis of a variety of materials. New applications are continually being developed. Advantages include the ability to test for almost all elements in a very short time and the high sensitivity of the technique. 

It should be evident that the full spectrum of the possible materials and applications in load-bearing situations involves many factors that may have to be taken into account. Fortunately, most products involve only a few factors, and others will not be significant or relevant. Regardless, the methods of design analysis must be made available to handle any possible combinations of such factors as the materials characteristics, the product s shape, the loading mode, the loading type, and other service factors and design criteria. 

Applications X-ray fluorescence is widely used for direct examination of polymeric materials (analysis of additives, catalyst residues, etc.) from research to recycling, through production and quality control, to troubleshooting. Many problems meet the concentration range in which conventional XRF is strong, namely from ppm upwards. Table 8.42 is merely indicative of the presence of certain additive classes corresponding to elemental analysis element combinations are obviously more specific for a given additive. It should be considered that some 60 atomic elements may be found in polymeric formulations. The XRF technique does not provide any structural information about the analytes detected the technique also has limited utility when... 

H. Saisho and Y. Gohshi, Applications of Synchrotron Radiation to Materials Analysis, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam (1996). 

A model-free method for the analysis of lattice distortions is readily established from Eq. (8.13). It is an extension of Stokes [27] method for deconvolution and has been devised by Warren and Averbach [28,29] (textbooks Warren [97], Sect. 13.4 Guinier [6], p. 241-249 Alexander [7], Chap. 7). For the application to common soft matter it is of moderate value only, because the required accuracy of beam profile measurement is rarely achievable. On the other hand, for application to advanced polymeric materials its applicability has been demonstrated [109], although the classical graphical method suffers from extensive approximations that reduce its value for the typical polymer with small crystal sizes and stronger distortions. 

Ionization and fragmentation of materials by a variety of means, principally by electron bombardment, or the softer techniques of chemical ionization, field ionization or fast atom bombardment. Analysis of the range of mass fragments produced. Elemental composition of non-volatile materials by application of an RF spark. 

Local thickness variations in a thin specimen complicate the quantitative analysis of a single element in the absence of precise knowledge of specimen thickness and without the ability to compare the measured x-ray intensities with those of thin standards. To avoid this difficulty, the x-ray intensity for the element of interest can be divided either by the intensity of a region of background between peaks as in the Hall method[8], or by the intensity from another element as in the Cliff-Lorimer method[9]. The former is largely used for biological analysis while the latter has become the standard thin specimen microanalysis method for materials science applications. The Cliff-Lorimer method is expressed in the following equation ... 

The variety of spectroscopic methods now available can be used to provide considerable information on radiation effects on polymeric materials. These applications are summarized in Table I. Improvements in instrumentation and data analysis procedures are continuing and the development of new spectroscopic techniques promise new insights into polymer structure and behaviour. 

Different types of lamps have been nsed in nnmerous applications, including spectroscopy, material analysis, and laser pnmping. We will enumerate the main characteristics of some of the most freqnently nsed systems. 

Different classes of products are discussed in the following sections. Table 15.1 shows VOCs, which have been identified by emission testing or material analysis and are representative for the assigned products. In Table 15.2 SERas and SERus are summarized for selected products and compounds in order to give an overview of the types VOCs emitted by different products. As mentioned earlier, the emission behavior of household products strongly depends on the type of application and on the test conditions. For a detailed understanding of this behavior,it is necessary to consult the cited references. 

The field of materials analysis by energetic ion beams has begun to mature in the last decade after arising within the nuclear physics community. The basic method, Rutherford back-scattering, has been the subject of a text (1 ), and the field has also engendered a useful handbook (2). Publications are scattered throughout the literature with much of the output in articles relating to the properties of materials. In these the ion beam analysis may form only a part of the work. New developments in technique and applications continue and have been the subject of a series of international conferences (see for example (3) for the latest of these). 

XPS is particularly suited to analyze solid materials in various materials science applications of polymeric materials. Several examples of the use of XPS to analyze the surface of solids in irregular forms such as fibers, powders, films, beads, and various extruded shapes such as o-rings will be presented. XPS can provide a rapid survey analysis as well as quantitative analysis within several percent depending on the sensitivity for the element in question. Unique structural information can often be obtained on solids that, due to their intractability and lack of solubility would present problems for investigation by other spectroscopic methods. 

The system hardware of a real-time NIR SI system is very much reliant on methodology, wavelength range and application requirements. Apart from the materials that have to be detected, sample size, required spatial resolution and the necessary throughput influence the design of an SI sensor unit. The following concentrates on the description of the most common case in NIR real-time material analysis and classification, a spatial-scanning SI system in DR mode. 

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