Electron probe microanalyzer with means to eliminate the effect of surface irregularities

Claim 1

AN ELECTRON PROBE MICRO-ANALYSER FOR THE X-RAY EMISSION ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIMENT, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING MEANS FOR PROJECTING AN ELECTRON BEAM ONTO A PORTION OF THE SURFACE OF SAID SPECIMEN TO CAUSE THE SIMULTANEOUS EMISSION OF X-RAYS OF A CHARACTERISTIC WAVE LENGTH FROM THE ELEMENT OF INTEREST IN SAID SPECIMENT AND X-RAYS OF A CONTINUOUS WAVE LENGTH FROM SAID SPECIMEN, FIRST DETECTOR MEANS FOR DETECTING SAID X-RAYS OF A CHARACTERISTIC WAVE LENGTH AND PRODUCING A SIGNAL THE INTENSITY OF WHICH VARIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMOUNT OF SAID ELEMENT IN SAID SPECIMENT AND WITH SURFACE IRREGULARITIES, SECOND DETECTOR MEANS FOR DETECTING SAID X-RAYS OF A CONTINUOUS WAVE LENGTH AND PRODUCING A SIGNAL THE INTENSITY OF WHICH VARIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH SURFACE IRREGULARITIES AND MEANS FOR DETERMINING THE RATIO BETWEEN THE SIGNALS PRODUCED BY SAID FIRST AND SECOND DETECTORS TO THEREBY ELIMINATE THE EFFECT OF SURFACE IRREGULARITIES AND OBTAIN A SIGNAL THAT VARIES ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VARIATION OF SAID ELEMENT IN SAID SPECIMEN.