Abstract: Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for determining an characteristic of a material. The characteristics may include, but are not limited to, crystallographic and chemical composition characteristics of a material.

Abstract: A method of measuring the transfer function of an X-ray optical component over a wide range of X-ray energies, which includes the steps of: using an X-ray optical component between an X-ray source and a scattering target to obtain a first scatter spectrum; obtaining a second scatter spectrum from the same or a similar target without the X-ray optical component between the X-ray source and the scattering target; and calculating the transfer function by the ratio of the first scatter spectrum to the second scatter spectrum. The method can be used to improve the accuracy of X-ray quantitative methods in an apparatus where an X-ray optical component is used between the X-ray source and the specimen to be investigated by utilizing the method described above.

Abstract: An analytical method for combining chemical information with crystallographic information to obtain a map of the crystal orientation, the nature of grain boundaries, and distinguishing crystalline phases in a polycrystalline sample, including the steps of providing a sample with a prescribed grid of points thereon, selecting a point, applying a collimated electron beam to the point to obtain an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) pattern and the elemental composition of the sample at the point. Recording the information and repeating for each point in the grid and determining the crystalline phases in the sample. An instrument capable of performing the method includes an SEM having means for applying an electron beam to a sample, means for obtaining an EBSD pattern (EBSP), and means for determining the composition of the sample, as well as means for recording EBSD band locations and characteristics and the elemental composition of the sample.