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Application of Computers in Electron Probe and X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Stanley D. Rasberry
Stanley D. Rasberry*
Affiliation:
Institute for Materials Research National Bureau of Standards Washington, D. C. 20231
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Abstract

This paper is a review of automation of electron microprobe and x-ray fluorescence instrumentation. Such a review seems timely because of the great increase in the application of computer systems in this field over the past decade. Some of these applications have been conceived to meet true technological needs while in other cases they have “been undertaken to “keep up with the Joneses.” I would like to show not only what automated systems are now feasible but also when and how they should he employed. The “when” and “how” of automation are largely dependent upon the application being considered; in this study, x-ray applications have been divided into the following classes;

  • (1) on-stream process-control,

  • (2) off-line quality assurance,

  • (3) routine service laboratory,

  • (4) general purpose analytical laboratory.

Several phases are present in these classes, including: specimen preparation and loading, measurement, data acquisition and transfer, data processing and display, and finally, archival data storage. Various workers have undertaken the automation of all these operations in one or the other of the classes of applications; from a review of their work and by examining details of each operation within the framework of a given application, we can now draw conclusions on the extent of desirable automation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in X-Ray Analysis , Volume 15: Twentieth Annual Conference on Applications of X-ray Analysis, August 11-13, 1971 , 1971 , pp. 56 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © International Centre for Diffraction Data 1971

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