Elemental composition and imaging with SEM-EDX

The UKAS accreditation we have at the Experimental Techniques Centre ensures that our electron microscopes are generating accurate compositional information and calibrated images, providing the highest level of certainty and credibility in our results.

The centre holds UKAS accreditation (ISO17025) for compositional analysis using energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) as part of the electron microscopy (EM) inspection.

As well as a rigourous calibration schedule, the EM systems are also regularly quality checked to guarantee the measurements and dimensions captured on the screen are exactly what they are.

SEM-EDX is a versatile technique that can be used to surgically analyse small areas to check for contamination or unknown residues. It is a tool we regularly use to support requirements from industry, with work ranging from quality assurance programmes to failure analysis investigations

We have a number of scanning electron microscopes in our facility and you can find out more about each instrument's capabilities here: Tescan, Supra, IT200.

On occasion, a sample may require special preparation ahead of examination by SEM and we have a number of techniques to support coating, cleaning, and microtoming. Sometimes the areas of interest are obscured and cross-sectioning is the only way to reveal them - you can find out more about this in our cross-sectioning page.

For more information or to discuss your testing requirement, please contact Dr Wayne Lam at wayne.lam@brunel.ac.uk

You can return to our main Commercial Services page to see what else we have that could support your requirements.