JPS63259950A - Sample analyzing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to know uniformity of concentration by graphically displaying the frequency distribution of characteristic X-ray intensity taken by a picture element contained in a designated region. CONSTITUTION:In case an operator indicates excecution of correlative graphic display together with designation of a region, so as to simultaneously and correlatively know also the state of distribution of other elements, a function disignating unit 14 sends a control signal to a function selecting unit 15 to set it. The data of an picture element contained in a region S of the housed data in the picture memory regions A1 and A2 are sent to a correlative graphic data creating unit 17 through the function selecting unit 15 and the processed and created data are sent to a display control unit 20 to be displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sample analyzer that acquires characteristic X-ray intensity value data of each element at each pixel on the surface of a sample and analyzes the sample.

[Conventional technology 1 The sample surface is divided into a large number of pixels, these pixels are sequentially irradiated with an electron beam, and each element θ1 generated from each pixel (x, y) is
．． The characteristic Xa of e2, . . . , θn' (n≧2) is detected. In such an apparatus, after the characteristic X-ray intensity value data regarding each detected element e1゜e2, ..., +9n (n≧2) is once stored in the storage device, any element can be extracted based on the operator's instructions. The characteristic X-ray intensity value data of e1 is read out and displayed on the display device.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When the characteristic X-ray intensity value of a certain element Chi is converted into n-values and observed as a color mapping image using such an apparatus, the R point of the distribution of the X-ray intensity values is You can know.

However, in such a mapping image,
Compare the line intensity value signal with several reference levels and convert it into n-values,
Since different colors are assigned to values in different hierarchies and displayed as a color mapping image, when an area displayed in the same color is viewed in more detail, the X-ray intensity values of pixels within this area can be compared. It is not possible to know the degree of homogeneity of the sample within the region with respect to the concentration of this element, i.e. whether it is widely distributed or concentrated in a narrow area.

The present invention solves these conventional drawbacks by specifying an area of any size at an arbitrary position on a color mapping screen that represents the distribution of characteristic X-ray intensity on a sample, and The object of the present invention is to provide a sample analysis laboratory capable of graphically displaying the frequency distribution of characteristic X-ray intensities of included pixels.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, the present invention provides a solution for each pixel (x,
y) for each element e1, e2,..., θn(
Intensity value data 71 of characteristic X-rays for n≧2) (x.

y), 12 (x, y), ・, In (x, Y)
an analysis means for extracting 1q, a means for storing data obtained by the analysis means, and an arbitrary element e1 (i is 1, 2,
..., n) characteristic X-ray intensity value data li (
x, V> and displaying the distribution image of element ■i in colors according to the data values; and means for indicating an area S of any size at any position on the screen of the display device. means and any element ■j(
j is 1.2, . There is.

[Example 1 Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a system configuration diagram showing the entirety of an embodiment of the present invention.

In Figure 2, 1 is an X-ray microanalyzer (hereinafter referred to as
(abbreviated as MA), 2 is the sample, EB is the electron beam, R
1, R2, R3 are spectroscopic crystals, DI.

D2, D3 are X-ray detectors, TI, T2, T
a Lt X-ray counter, 3 is a CPU, 4 is a storage device, 5 is a color graphic display, 6 is a pointing device such as a digitizer or mouse, 7 is a keyboard,
8 is a pass line. The spectroscopic crystals R1, R2, R3
are set so that the characteristic X-rays of the elements el, e2, e3 (7) can be selected, respectively. The pointing device 6 is also capable of indicating an area having an arbitrary position, size, and shape on the screen of the color graphic display 5 by drawing the area with a bright line according to an operator's instructions. be.

In FIG. 1, 9 is an X-ray intensity value data storage section, 10 is a write/read control section, 11 is an area specifying section, 12 is a mapping element specifying section, and 13 is an element for drawing a histogram or a correlation graph, which will be described later. 14 is a function specification section, 15 is a function selection section, 1 is a target element specification section for specification;
6 is a histogram data creation section, 17 is a correlation graph data creation section, 18 is a level processing section, 19 is a color processing section, and 20 is a display control section. The storage device 4 includes a first
As shown in the figure, an X-ray intensity value data storage section 9 is provided, and this X-ray intensity value data storage section further includes each element e.
One screen image storage area A corresponding to l, e2, and θ3
I, A2, and A3 are provided.

Each one-screen image storage area has a storage area of a predetermined depth for each pixel (x, y) in the sample scanning area by the electron beam EB.

In such a configuration, while the sample is irradiated with the electron beam EB, the horizontal movement mechanism for the sample 2 is operated to move the sample 2 two-dimensionally. As a result, each pixel (X, V) of the sample 2 is sequentially irradiated with the electron beam EB. Element e1. θ2. The characteristic X-rays of e3 are detected by X-ray detectors 01, D2, and D3 via the spectroscopic crystals R1, R2, and R3, respectively. Therefore,
Each pixel (X.

Each element e1 in y). θ2. The characteristic X-ray count value signal of e3 is sent to the storage device 4 via the pass line 8.

Each pixel (X.

The characteristic X-ray intensity value data regarding element e1 of y) is stored in a storage area corresponding to each pixel (X, V) of the image storage area A1 of the X-ray intensity value data storage section 9. Similarly, the characteristic X-ray intensity value data of element e2 is stored in the image storage area A2.
Further, the characteristic X-ray intensity value data of element e3 is stored in the image storage area A.
3 is stored.

Therefore, when the operator uses the keyboard 7 to instruct color mapping display of the characteristic X-ray intensity distribution of the element θ1, the mapping element specifying section 12
In order to send a signal instructing the selection of element e1 to , the write/read controller 10 sequentially reads out all data stored in A1 of the image storage area of the X-ray intensity value data storage section 9, and the level data is sent to the processing section 18. send to The level is processing part 1
8 compares the sent X-ray intensity value data with a plurality of preset reference levels. The number and value of this reference level can be set arbitrarily.

In the case of this embodiment, if four reference levels are set as the reference levels, the processing unit 18
classifies the sent X-ray intensity value data into those inside and outside each of these reference levels, converts it into five values, and sends the color data to the processing section 19. For the color, the processing unit 19 assigns hues according to the hierarchical values to the 5-valued data sent from the processing unit 18 for the levels, and controls the display of signals for displaying each in the assigned hue. Send to Department 20. As a result, the color graphic display 5 displays a color mapping image showing the characteristic X-ray intensity distribution of the element e1, as shown in FIG. 3(a). Similarly, when the operator instructs to display the characteristic X-ray intensity distribution image of element e2, an image as shown in FIG. 3(b) is displayed on the display 5 based on the data stored in A2 of the image storage area. be done. While observing such an X-ray intensity distribution image, for example, the characteristic X-ray intensity distribution image of element e2, an area of interest is found, and the characteristic X of element e2 taken by the pixels included in this area is found.
If you want to know the frequency distribution of line intensity values, you can do the following.

That is, first, the operator operates the pointing device @6,
Based on the control of the area specifying unit 11, this area S is defined as shown in FIG.
It is surrounded by bright line F as shown in C).

After specifying the area in this way, the keyboard 7
This indicates that the target of frequency distribution display is element e2. Based on this instruction, the target element specifying section 13 notifies the readout control section 10 that the data in the image storage area A2 has been selected as data to be read out.

Furthermore, when an instruction is given using the keyboard 7 to display a graphic in the form of a histogram, the function specifying section 14 controls the function selecting section 15 to direct the data sent from the X-ray intensity value data storage section 9 to the histogram data creation section 16. Set the function selection section 15 to . Therefore, when an instruction is given to display the frequency distribution, among the data stored in the image storage area A2 of the X-ray intensity value data storage section 9, the area specified by the area specification section 11 is displayed! Based on the i instruction signal, only data of pixels included in the designated area S is read out by the four-way reading control section 10 and sent to the histogram data creation section 16 via the function selection section 15. The histogram data creation unit 16 determines where each piece of data that has been sent falls into one of a large number of hierarchies divided at equal intervals set in advance, and each time the data is classified into each hierarchies. By counting up the count values corresponding to the hierarchy, frequency distribution data of X-ray intensity values is created. Since the data created by the histogram data creation section 16 is sent to the display control section 20, based on the control of the display control section 20, the X of element θ2 as shown in FIG. A histogram showing the frequency distribution of line intensity values is displayed. By looking at this display, the operator can determine if the width of the histogram is narrow, the element e2 distributed in the specified area.
The amount of variation is small, indicating that the sample is relatively homogeneous with respect to the concentration of element e2, and if the width of the histogram is wide, the concentration of element e2 differs slightly in parts, indicating the homogeneity of the sample. You can tell that the level is low.

For example, when attempting to display the histogram of element θ1, it is sufficient to specify that the target element is θ1 using the keyboard 7, and based on this instruction, the target element specifying unit 13 selects the image storage area 1g! In order to inform the write/read control unit 10 that the AI data is to be read,
Among the data in the image storage area A1, the data included in the area S is read out and processed, and a histogram regarding the element e1 can be displayed on the graphic display 5.

Furthermore, if the operator wants to know not only the distribution of X-ray intensity values of a given element but also the distribution of other elements simultaneously and in a correlated manner, the user can use the keyboard 7 along with the area instruction. commands execution of correlation graph display. As a result, the function specifying unit 14 sends a control signal to the function selecting unit 15 and sets the function selecting unit 15 to send the data sent from the X-ray intensity value data storage unit 9 to the correlation graph data creating unit 17. . Therefore, when the elements θ1 and e2, for example, are specified as the elements to be correlated and displayed using the keyboard 7, the target element specifying unit 13
, it is informed that the data in the image storage area A1 and the image storage area A2 are selected to be read. When an instruction is given to execute the display, data of pixels included in the instructed area S out of the data stored in the image storage area A1 is sent to the correlation graph data creation unit 17 via the function selection unit 15, and the image storage area Of the data stored in A2, pixel data included in area S is similarly sent to the correlation graph data creation section 17. The correlation graph data creation unit 17 sets the data of the first pixel included in the area S stored in the image storage area A1 as the X coordinate xi of the first point to be displayed on the screen of the display 5. , data processing is performed to proportionally convert the data of the first pixel included in the area S stored in the image storage area A2 to the Y coordinate yi of the i-th display point. The data created through such processing is sent from the correlation graphic data creation section 17 to the display control section 20, so that the display control section 20 displays a correlation graph as shown in FIG. 4(b).

By observing this correlation graph, the operator can know that if the spread of the displayed point distribution in the element e2 axis direction is low, the uniformity of the distribution of element θ2 is low; If the spread of the distribution of points in the direction of the element e2 axis is narrow, it can be seen that the concentration of the element e2 is uniform over the region S. Similarly, by looking at the spread of the display points in the axial direction of element e1, it is possible to know the degree of uniformity of the concentration of element e1, and furthermore, in the case shown in the figure, the concentration of element e1 and the concentration of element e2 can be determined. It can be seen that there is an inverse correlation in the region S.

The embodiment described above is only one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention can be modified and implemented.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the pointing device not only indicates an area having an arbitrary position and size, but also an arbitrary shape. 2, 3
It is also possible to display a rectangle whose size can be changed stepwise and whose position can be arbitrarily changed as shown in , and to specify the area by specifying the position and size of this rectangle.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, a case was shown in which characteristic X-rays of three types of elements were detected.
The characteristic X-rays of more elements than the three types may be detected and stored in the storage device.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the characteristic X-ray intensity data was directly used to display the histogram and the correlation graph, but the characteristic
! After converting to one value, a histogram or a correlation graph may be displayed.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides a means for indicating a region S of an arbitrary size at an arbitrary position on the screen of a display device, and an arbitrary element among the elements. X of each pixel included in the designated area S with respect to θj
Since it is equipped with a means to display a graph showing the frequency distribution for each line intensity value, it is possible to check whether the element of interest is present uniformly in each part in a specified region or in different concentrations in each part. You can find out in detail what is going on.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the main parts of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating instructions for an arbitrary area on a screen displayed on a color graphic display, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the graphic display. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention. 1: X-ray microanalyzer 2: Sample EB: Electron beam R1, R2, R3: Spectroscopic crystal Di, D2. D3: X-ray detector T1. T2. T3: X-ray counter 3: CPU 4: Storage device 5: Color graphic display 6: Pointing device 7: Keyboard 8: Bus line 9: X-ray intensity value data storage section 10: Write/read control section 11: Area specification section 12: Mapping element specification section 13: Target element specification section 14: Line surface specification section 15: Function selection section 16: Histogram data creation section 17: Correlation graph data creation section 18 Two-level processing section

Claims (1)

[Claims] Characteristic X-ray intensity value data I1 (x, y), I2 (x ,y),...,In(X,
an analysis means for obtaining the data Y), a means for storing the data obtained by the analysis means, and an arbitrary element ■i (i is 1, 2
, ..., n) characteristic X-ray intensity value data Ii (x
, y) and color the element according to this data value.
means for displaying a distribution image of i, means for indicating a region S of an arbitrary size at an arbitrary position on the screen of the display device, and an arbitrary element ■j(j
1, 2, . Sample analyzer.