σigma vp

The surface morphology of the coating film was investigated by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) (ΣIGMA/VP, Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd., Jena, Germany) at an accelerating voltage of 4 kV.

Thin sections were carbon-coated in a high resolution turbomolecular pumped sputter coater, model Q150T ES produced by Quorum Technologies (Lewes, UK). Carbon-coated thin section samples were observed with Zeiss (Oberkochen, Germany) Σigma™ VP (variable pressure) SEM (scanning electron microscope) with a field emission electron gun (FEG, Oberkochen, Germany) using an AsB™ (Angular selected BSE) detector and EDS analysed using CrossBeam^® (Berlin, Germany) Technology EDX (XFlash 6/10™) detectors produced by Bruker. Chamber design provides the ideal geometry for simultaneous two detector EDS analyses. The set conditions were as follows: acceleration voltage 20 kV, beam current 80 µA, working distance 7.7 mm, live time of chemical analysis 60 s. The analysis was executed in high vacuum. Investigations were used to carry out quantitative analysis of the chemical composition. The outstanding hardware is controlled by the ESPRIT software suite. Element identification and spectrum evaluation were made using the standard-less quantification method. This method relies on peak-to-background ZAF evaluation (P/B-ZAF) and provides reliable quantification results.