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Electron Probe Microanalysis of Ni Silicides Using Ni-L X-Ray Lines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2016

Xavier Llovet Open the ORCID record for Xavier Llovet [Opens in a new window] ,
Philippe T. Pinard ,
Erkki Heikinheimo ,
Seppo Louhenkilpi  and
Silvia Richter
Xavier Llovet*
Affiliation:
Scientific and Technological Centers, Universitat de Barcelona, Lluís Solé i Sabarís 1-3, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Philippe T. Pinard
Affiliation:
Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Erkki Heikinheimo
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 16200, 00076 Aalto, Espoo, Finland
Seppo Louhenkilpi
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Aalto University, PO Box 16200, 00076 Aalto, Espoo, Finland
Silvia Richter
Affiliation:
Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. xavier@ccit.ub.edu
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Abstract

We report electron probe microanalysis measurements on nickel silicides, Ni5Si2, Ni2Si, Ni3Si2, and NiSi, which were done in order to investigate anomalies that affect the analysis of such materials by using the Ni L3-M4,5 line (Lα). Possible sources of systematic discrepancies between experimental data and theoretical predictions of Ni L3-M4,5k-ratios are examined, and special attention is paid to dependence of the Ni L3-M4,5k-ratios on mass-attenuation coefficients and partial fluorescence yields. Self-absorption X-ray spectra and empirical mass-attenuation coefficients were obtained for the considered materials from X-ray emission spectra and relative X-ray intensity measurements, respectively. It is shown that calculated k-ratios with empirical mass attenuation coefficients and modified partial fluorescence yields give better agreement with experimental data, except at very low accelerating voltages. Alternatively, satisfactory agreement is also achieved by using the Ni L3-M1 line (Lℓ) instead of the Ni L3-M4,5 line.

Keywords

electron probe microanalysisL-linesNi silicidewavelength-dispersive spectrometer
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 22 , Issue 6 , December 2016 , pp. 1233 - 1243
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2016 

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