The influence of lens chromatic aberration on electron energy-loss spectroscopy quantitative measurements

An investigation has been made into the effect of chromatic aberrations of a pre-spectrometer lens system on quantitative elemental analysis by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). In transmission electron microscopy (TEM) diffraction mode, the measured effects are typically 150-330 times larger than if only objective-lens chromatic aberration were important. We discuss several methods of avoiding errors arising from chromatic aberration, including selection of a suitable optical mode (dependent on the desired spatial resolution), adjustment of the TEM imaging system so as to focus the system for a chosen energy loss, and analysis of a large area of a uniform specimen.