SSW has recently upgraded the EDX system on our Hitachi S4500 field emission SEM to a Quartz PCI XOne SSD X-ray analyzer. The system consists of a PulseTor Maxim silicon drift detector (SDD) combined with a Quartz Imaging XOne image and EDX capture software. The state-of-the-art detector is electronically cooled and has excellent energy resolution with a FWHM of 126.4 eV for Mn K(alpha). The post processing system allows for much higher count rates resulting in faster collection times for spectra and maps. Ultimately, the spectra have narrower peaks allowing for more accurate identification of elements that have peak overlaps, more accurate quantification and improved low energy resolution. With this new system we are able to positively identify nitrogen in lower concentrations, something that has been difficult to do with older EDX systems. Below is an example of EDX elemental maps, including a map of nitrogen, from a residue on an aluminum substrate.
Surface Science Western 
