X-Ray Counts Setup

select the best method to optimize the effectiveness of the spectrum matching algorithm it is recommended to have 2000 total counts in a spectrum in amics investigator, the number of counts per spectra (or count rate) can be controlled following two approaches set a target number of counts x rays will be accumulated until this target is reached using this option all x ray spots will have approximately the same number of counts use a set acquisition time all x rays are collected for a set acquisition time (e g , 10 ms) if this method is selected, the counts for different phases may differ for example, a spot on quartz might only capture 1800 counts in a 10 ms count time, but a spot on a heavy mineral such as galena might have 4000 counts in the same count time collect by acquisition time collect by acquisition time has been disableled due to a presistient time lag in this mode a fix is un progress and it will be returned soon sorry! this option will have amics dwell on a point until the set total count threshold is met or exceeded in practice due to the data package transfer protocol from the detector to amics, the final total counts will generally be greater than the requested count total collect by counts this option will have amics dwell on a point for a fixed length of time measured in integer values of milliseconds this option will provide a consistent measurement time between measurements using the same setting, as amics will collect for the same time interval for every point it is also possible to set the default collection method for all new measurements via the main menu ribbon, under the "others" sub menu