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Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy identifies emitted X-rays by photon energy. An incident electron beam can create inner-shell vacancies; subsequent atomic transitions generate Characteristic X-rays whose energies help identify constituent chemical elements.

A calibrated detector produces an emission spectrum containing peaks and background. Comparing peak counts can support composition measurements, but absorption within the sample, overlapping lines and detector response affect the result. The brightness recorded by an electron microscope is a different observable from elemental identification by spectral lines. ^[ref]