The analysis of samples with a scanning electron microscope often requires element distribution images. Until recently, element mapping was strongly limited by the count rate that could be processed with conventional EDS systems using Si(Li) or Ge crystal diode detectors. The enhancement of secondary and backscattered SEM images can now be achieved through the addition of rapid color imaging. Using a new methodology for color enhancement, features as small as 1 micrometer can be colored and easily distinguished. The addition of color to SEM images enables easy visualization of element distributions and allows the microstructural features and compositional variations of different materials to be more readily identified. Persons unfamiliar with electron microscopy can more readily interpret color images than black and white or gray scale images. This new technology for imaging elements has great potential to revolutionize electron microscopy.

The detector technology behind this new methodology is the silicon drift diode (SDD).