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Multiple-Instrument Analyses of Single Micron-Size Particles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2005

Uri Admon ,
David Donohue ,
Helmut Aigner ,
Gabriele Tamborini ,
Olivier Bildstein  and
Maria Betti
Uri Admon
Affiliation:
Physics, Chemistry, and Instrumentation Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna (Seibersdorf), Austria
David Donohue
Affiliation:
Safeguards Analytical Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna (Seibersdorf), Austria
Helmut Aigner
Affiliation:
Safeguards Analytical Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna (Seibersdorf), Austria
Gabriele Tamborini
Affiliation:
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany
Olivier Bildstein
Affiliation:
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany
Maria Betti
Affiliation:
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), P.O. Box 2340, 76125 Karlsruhe, Germany
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Abstract

Physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses of individual radioactive and other particles in the micron-size range, key tools in environmental research and in nuclear forensics, require the ability to precisely relocate particles of interest (POIs) in the secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) or in another instrument, after having been located, identified, and characterized in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). This article describes the implementation, testing, and evaluation of the triangulation POIs re-location method, based on microscopic reference marks imprinted on or attached to the sample holder, serving as an inherent coordinate system. In SEM-to-SEM and SEM-to-SIMS experiments re-location precision better than 10 μm and 20 μm, respectively, is readily attainable for instruments using standard specimen stages. The method is fast, easy to apply, and facilitates repeated analyses of individual particles in different instruments and laboratories.

Keywords

particle analysisenvironmental particle analysisforensicsnuclear forensicsgunshot residues (GSR)triangulationre-locationSEMSIMS
Type
TECHNIQUES FOR MICROSCOPY AND MICROANALYSIS
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , August 2005 , pp. 354 - 362
Copyright
© 2005 Microscopy Society of America

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References

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