ETU – XLive

X Live is a powerful tool for rapid visualization of X-ray images collected by WDS or EDS spectrometers. The X-ray images can be shown separately from or overlayed onto a secondary or backscattered electron scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the sample..

Selection and tuning of X-ray spectrometers

The upper portion of the X Live panel is used to select and tune the X-ray spectrometers.  
Elements may be selected manually from a periodic table or selected automatically by scanning the WD or ED spectrometers.   The selection process also differs according to the type of X-ray spectrometer.

WDS

Choose the WDS spectrometer mode by pressing on the ‘WDS’ button 

Manual selection

The WDS button shows a red dot when the beam scanning size is > 100 m to warn the user of potential loss of X-ray intensity at the corners of the image.  The loss is caused by WD spectrometer defocusing at large fields-of-view (low magnification).  The button shows a green dot when the scanning size is ≤ 100 m (high magnification) and WDS defocusing is minimal.  

To select an element for a WD spectrometer, press on the crystal name button for that spectrometer (e.g., ), then press the ‘Periodic Table’ buttonto open the selection table.  Each crystal has a limited X-ray spectral range and inaccessible elements are shown with a cross-hatched pattern.   Double-click one of the accessible elements to move the spectrometer to that element’s X-ray line.  There will be a short delay while the spectrometer moves into position.

Automatic selection

Alternatively, elements can be selected by auto-detection. The ‘Run’ button  starts a WDS X-ray spectrum scan at the current location of the beam on the sample.  The ‘Stop’ button  halts an ongoing scan.

The WDS acquisition takes several minutes to scan the full range of each spectrometer.  After acquisition, examine the spectra in the SxSAB window.  Search for X-ray peaks, either by using the manual Periodic Table tool or with the AutoID tools (RMB-click on the spectra) in the SxSAB program. 
Press on the ‘Stop’ button  to end the Automatic search.

Bargraph display

After element selection, a gauge displaying the X-ray signal intensity for each element (WDS only) appears at the upper left corner of the real-time screen. Individual bargraphs can be enabled or disabled by pressing the corresponding element button.

EDS

Choose the EDS spectrometer mode by pressing on the ‘EDS’ button .  Up to 10 elements may be added to the EDS table, from which up to 3 may be chosen for the X Live display.

Manual selection

Press the ‘Periodic Table’ button .  Press on an element to add it to the EDS table.  Press on the element a second time to remove it from the table.
 
Automatic selection

The ‘Run’ button  starts an EDS X-ray spectrum acquisition at the current location of the beam on the sample.  The ‘Stop’ button  halts an ongoing acquisition.  

For EDS, a spectral scan only takes a few seconds.  An automatic element ID routine returns the ten highest intensity elements to the EDS table.

 

X Live acquisition and display

The lower portion of the X Live tab is dedicated to acquisition of the X Live real-time display.

X Signals

Once X-ray lines have been assigned to Channels, acquisition of X Live images is possible

Composite image display

Press the ‘Run’ button  to start the X Live Composite display.  The image intensity increases as more counts are acquired in successive sweeps.  The live image accumulates counts indefinitely, until it is frozen by pressing the ‘Stop’ button .

The relative intensity (opacity) of the four images (SEM image plus three X-ray channels) can be adjusted from 0 to 100% with the sliders in the ‘Composite’ panel.
To save the images to disk, press the ‘Save’ button .  The image file name is designated in the text field.
To exit the X Live Composite image acquisition, press the ‘Exit’ button .  The file is saved in impDat format and opened in the SX Results program.
IMPORTANT: You must exit X Live acquisition to proceed with other SX Five Tactis operations.

Separate images display

Press the ‘Run’ button  to start the X Live Separate display.  The image intensity increases as more counts are acquired in successive sweeps.  The live image accumulates counts indefinitely, until it is frozen by pressing the ‘Stop’ button .

The LUT (Color LookUp Table) and Brightness/Contrast of the SEM image can be modified with controls in the ‘Separate’ panel.
To save the images to disk, press the ‘Save’ button .  The image file name is designated in the text field.
To exit the X Live Separate image acquisition, press the ‘Exit’ button .  The file is saved in impDat format and opened in the SX Results program.

IMPORTANT: You must exit X Live acquisition to proceed with other SX Five Tactis operations.

File saving

The SX Live Separate and Composite images are saved as ‘impDat’ files.

‘impDat’ files are proprietary image formats developed by CAMECA.  They contain additional information, such as XYZ position and instrument configuration.  These files can be viewed only with CAMECA software.

The files are saved in the Images&Profiles folder within the currently defined path (Project/Sample) and can be opened in the SX-Results program for additional image processing, including exporting to other file formats, such as TIFF, JPEG, and BMP.