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The instructions to acquire a spectrum differ between the three workspaces, thus this portion of the Quick Start Guide is separated into three sections. Follow the steps in the relevant section for the analysis that you would like to perform.

For Object Scans see pg. 54 of user manual

1. Clicking into the appropriate workspace (Objects, see figure #), capture an image as described in the above section.
2. Click on the image to draw the point, set of points, or area over which you would like to acquire a spectraspectrum. image of toolbar
3. Use Select all to highlight all objects.
Set
4. Click on the dropdown arrow on the Acquire button to open the Acquisition menu. Select the desired parameters.
   1. Set Acquisition parameters: image
      1. Automatic:
         1. Fast (50000 counts) for major elements
         2. Precise (250,000 counts) for minor elements (recommended)
         3. Exhaustive (1,000,000 counts) for elements close to the detection limit
      2. Manual: If Manual is selected, the acquisition must be stopped manually by deselecting the Acquire button
      3. Real time: The acquisition will stop after the time entered in the dialog box has elapsed
      4. Live time: The acquisition will stop after the dead time-corrected acquisition time has elapsed
      5. Counts: The acquisition will stop after the predefined number of counts is recorded.
5. Set Acquisition parameters:
6. 1. Optionally, set Automatic Quantification if desired. If Continuous or After acquisition is selected, the spectrum is quantified during or after the acquisition. Load a quantification method using the button.
Set
7. 1. Optionally, set Spectrum numbering settings if desired: the numbering will start after the entered Spectrum number.
Set
8. 1. Optionally, set Auto save settings: Select Add to report to send the data automatically after acquisition to the report, and/or select Save to file to save the data automatically after acquisition via pop-up dialogue.
9. Click Acquire to Acquire a spectrum. If Acquisition is set to Manual, the acquisition must be manually stopped by deselecting the Acquire button. All other acquisition parameters will automatically stop the acquisition when the set parameter (time or counts) has been reached.
10. The acquired spectra will appear in the spectrum list. Right click into the spectrum chart to Save (recommended to save as ???.txt???) or Add to report. image Expand on different ways of saving data

For Line Scans check this is correct

1. Clicking into the appropriate workspace (Linescan), capture an image as described in the above section.
2. Highlight the line and drag/adjust the endpoints to the desired position.
3. Set Point count of the line scan. Alternatively select Distance [μm] between measurement points. The distance between points and electron beam spot size is shown in a display and will change depending on whether Point count or Distance [μm] has been selected. The calculation of the spot size depends on the voltage used.
4. Click on the dropdown arrow on the Acquire button to open the Acquisition menu. Select the desired parameters.
   1. Set Set Acquisition parameters: image
      1. Automatic:
         1. Fast (50000 counts) for major elements
         2. Precise (250,000 counts) for minor elements (recommended)
         3. Exhaustive (1,000,000 counts) for elements close to the detection limit
      2. Manual: If Manual is selected, the acquisition must be stopped manually by deselecting the Acquire button
      3. Real time: The acquisition will stop after the time entered in the dialog box has elapsed
      4. Live time: The acquisition will stop after the dead time-corrected acquisition time has elapsed
      5. Counts: The acquisition will stop after the predefined number of counts is recorded.Set
   2. Optionally, set Automatic Quantification if desired. If Continuous or After acquisition is selected, the spectrum is quantified during or after the acquisition. Load a quantification method using the button.
   3. Set Optionally, set Spectrum numbering settings if desired: the numbering will start after the entered Spectrum number.
   4. SetOptionally, set Auto save settings: Select Add to report to send the data automatically after acquisition to the report, and/or select Save to file to save the data automatically after acquisition via pop-up dialogue.
5. Click Acquire to Acquire acquire a spectrum. If Acquisition is set to Manual, the acquisition must be manually stopped by deselecting the Acquire button. All other acquisition parameters will automatically stop the acquisition when the set parameter (time or counts) has been reached.
6. Use the elements icon to identify elements. Elements are automatically identified by Auto ID and element list can be modified by clicking on Element ID or Finder.
7. Select elements in the thumbnail bar by ticking the boxes below the individual element images to display their profiles in the Profiles tab
8. Use the right mouse key in the scan iage to extract region of interest spectrum from the line scan.
9. Right click into the spectrum chart desired element to Save or Add to report, or use the I/O icon.

For Mapping Needs work

1. Select the Mapping workspace. Use high count rate for good count statistics.
2. Click on the Scan configurator to set Image resolution, Mapping dwell time and Line average. Image resolution defines the pixel resolution.
3. Click on the Capture button to open the Capture parameters menu. Adjust Capture parameters for the image: set single or continuous.
4. Capture an image.
5. Click on the Acquire button and set parameters for
1. Map time: Mapping is automatically terminated if Measurement time [s] or Cycles is set. When Manual is selected acquisition has to be stopped manually by clicking the Acquire button. One click terminates the scan after finishing the last frame, the button will change to Stop. Another click on the Stop button terminates the measurement immediately.
2. Map area: Choose as Map area: Full, Fixed or Variable and the Map width or Map heights in [μm]. Choose the number of acquisition Points or the Point distance in [μm]. Points are equal to pixels in the map. The number of points alters the distance between points and the electron beam spot size shown in the display on the left side. The calculation of the spot size depends on the used high voltage.
3. After measurement: Set microscope to turn off the HV after measurement.??????? Select Save data to save the data automatically after acquisition. In the pop up dialog the file name and the data storage location can be chosen.
6. Acquire a map. NOTE: wait time 30 minutes for 10 kcps or less, 5-20 min for 20 kcps or higher.
7. Use the workspace icon to
1. Save Map map data. Use file format: ***.bcf: to save HyperMaps (datacube, hyperspectral data set). Spectra for each pixel are saved. Further processing is possible only, when data is saved as a .bcf file. ***.rtm: to save element distribution images without point spectra. ***.raw: to save hyperspectral datacube for further processing with third party softwares.
2. Save selected map data, if only a part of the map area needs to be saved. Mark the area to be saved by drawing a rectangle in the map chart with the rectangle tool. Only the data of the area within the rectangle will be saved.
3. Add data to report.
4. Clear database. HyperMap database will be deleted. Element distribution images without point spectra remain as well as the selected elements. No Elements can be added/selected anymore
8. Right mouse click into the Map tab to
1. Save map image Use image file formats (.bmp, .png, .jpg, .tif) to save the composite element image.
2. Add item to report Composite element image will be added to the report.
9. Right mouse click into the thumbnail bar to
1. Save images Individual element images of selected thumbnails will be saved. To select them mark the individual element images with left mouse click + SHIFT or CRTL key.
2. Add images to report. Individual element images will be added to report.
10. Process map data as desired.

Map Processing

G. Quantify A Spectrum

H. Save Data

Saving annotated image
Saving spectra
Saving quantification results
Saving data for later reduction

III. Uploading Data to LIMS

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IV. Preventative Maintenance

The following tasks should be completed, in addition to the tasks listed in Section IV of the SEC SEM User Guide.

Regularly

• Check the energy-channel calibration as detailed in section 5.2 (pg. 43) of the Esprit Compact user manual.
• Check that the contrast/brightness of the BSE image captured on an average sample looks good. If not, go into Systems tab to change the image parameters.

IV. Credits

Version 1 of this document was written by Luan Heywood and Kara Vadman, on Exp 397T, and contains some content modified from the University of Louisville Micro/Nano Technology CenterEsprit Compact User Manual. This document was reviewed by ___ on ___.

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