Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)

As one of the widely used analytical methods for the analysis of elemental composition of solid matter, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) has recently gained significant importance regarding its application to the chemical analysis of nanoparticles, especially in conjunction with the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the use of the transmission operation mode of SEM (STEM-in-SEM). This development was mainly driven by the technological progress with highly sensitive EDS detectors, such that individual nanoparticles can be quickly inspected with EDS at a SEM. Qualitative information on elemental composition with about 10-nm spatial resolution can be achieved complementary to the high-resolution information of the sample surface morphology within the same scanned area as provided by the electron microscope. Not only representative examples with successful EDS analysis on nanoparticles are presented, but also limitations of the method are described.