A new detection system for x-ray microanalysis based on a silicon drift detector with Peltier cooling

A detection system made with a silicon drift detector cooled by a Peltier element has been designed and tested. This system has been conceived to be implemented in electron probe microanalyzers for the x-ray microanalysis of the specimen. The good energy resolution of the detector, 155 eV full width at half-maximum at the $\mathrm{Mn}\mathrm{–K\alpha }$ line, obtained at moderately low temperature $\text{(−15\hspace{0.17em}°}\mathrm{C})$ by a small single-stage Peltier cooler, let this module be used in many applications in place of a standard Si(Li) detector, without the need of a liquid-nitrogen cryostat and with a good geometrical collection efficiency. Also, the particularly low values of shaping time $\text{(<2\hspace{0.17em}μ}\mathrm{s})$ used for optimum energy resolution suggest the use of this system in operations with high counting rates $\text{(>30\hspace{0.17em}000\hspace{0.17em}}\mathrm{counts/s})$ like, for example, fast scannings for elemental mapping. The module has been implemented in an electron microscope and the test results are reported in the article.