THE THEORETICAL DETECTION LIMITS OF SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray microanalysis (XRMA) are a combination of analytical methods used for particle analysis. What is the smallest particle one can find, detect and measure? In order to get believable results and to make confident conclusions about particle characteristics and its presence in the sample one should know how accurately every measurement technique can measure a single particle contained uranium or plutonium. This paper estimates theoretically achievable detection limits of SEM (partly of XRMA) and provides numerical results where possible. The numerical results of detection limits were obtained for uranium-containing microparticles in routine laboratory conditions.