energy resolution, spectrum resolution

The energy resolution in elemental analysis using X-ray spectroscopy means the minimum energy (eV) of a spectral peak that can be resolved. Two peaks of a spectrum that are separated by about the full width at half maximum (FWHM) are distinguishable. The energy resolution depends on the types of detectors.
The resolution of the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) is defined for the peak of Mn Kα (5.9 keV) to be 125 to 140 eV. The resolution of the wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometer (WDS) is defined for the peak of Fe Kα (6.4 keV) to be about 10 eV. It should be noted that the resolution of WDS is much better than that of EDS. The energy resolution of the recently-developed soft X-ray spectrometer (SXES), which is one of WDS, is defined for the Fermi edge of Al L line (73 eV) to be 0.3 eV.

Related Term(s)