✦ LIBER ✦
A review of sources of spurious silicon peaks in electron microprobe X-ray spectra of biological specimens
✍ Scribed by Nancy K.R. Smith
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1979
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 398 KB
- Volume
- 94
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0003-2697
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The presence of Si peaks in X-ray spectra of biological specimens can lead to misinterpretation of data if one is unaware of potential sources of artifactual Si. Silicon contamination may be acquired from oils or greases during the course of specimen preparation or from the vacuum system of the electron microscope.
In energy dispersive X-ray detection, the level of the Si peak cannot be reduced below that of the internal fluorescence peak obtained from the dead-layer of the detector.
BACKGROUND
The problem of an anomalous Si peak has been pointed out numerous times since biol-