Modifications to an electron microprobe to aid in the determination of low atomic number elements

Borile, F.; Garulli, A.

doi:10.1002/xrs.1300070303

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous studies have suggested that cooling a cold finger to the temperature of LN 2 was not required for effective decontamination. Indeed, temperatures in the range of −15 to −70°C are found to be effective for cold fingers of different geometries and distances from the sample (Ennos, 1954; Komoda & Morito, 1960; Ranzetta & Scott, 1966; Borile & Garulli, 1978; Hirsch et al, 1994). A detailed study by Hirsch et al (1994) used a cold finger with the geometry of a cage surrounding, but not in contact with, the sample and cooled by LN 2 to varying temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decontamination in the Electron Probe Microanalysis with a Peltier-Cooled Cold Finger

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A prototype Peltier thermoelectric cooling unit has been constructed to cool a cold finger on an electron microprobe. The Peltier unit was tested at 15 and 96 W, achieving cold finger temperatures of −10 and −27°C, respectively. The Peltier unit did not adversely affect the analytical stability of the instrument. Heat conduction between the Peltier unit mounted outside the vacuum and the cold finger was found to be very efficient. Under Peltier cooling, the vacuum improvement associated with water vapor deposition was not achieved; this has the advantage of avoiding severe degradation of the vacuum observed when warming up a cold finger from liquid nitrogen (LN2) temperatures. Carbon contamination rates were reduced as cooling commenced; by −27°C contamination rates were found to be comparable with LN2-cooled devices. Peltier cooling, therefore, provides a viable alternative to LN2-cooled cold fingers, with few of their associated disadvantages.

show abstract