Quantitative Electron Probe Microanalysis of Oxygen

Electron probe microanalysis of oxygen is carried out on BeO, MgO, MnO·Al 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , TiO, TiO 2 , Mn 3 O 4 , (Mn, Fe) 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 3 O 4 and Cu 2 O. It is remarkable that the observed O K α intensity depends upon the accelerating voltages for 5–30 KV. The observed results are corrected with the modified Philibert's absorption correction and Poole-Thomas' atomic number correction. The mass absorption coefficients are quoted from experimental data of Henke, Ershov and Hill. Relative errors between the electron probe microanalysis and the wet chemical analysis are less than a few percent. Dependence of observed X-ray intensity upon the accelerating voltage is also measured for Cu K α, Fe K α, Ti K α, Ca K α, Si K α, Al K α, O K α and C K α, and simple relation is found between the corrected X-ray intensity and the excitation potential, E / E K -1.