Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of examining a sample using a spectroscopic apparatus, comprising:mounting the sample on a sample holder;directing a focused input beam of radiation onto a location on the sample, thereby producing an interaction that causes a flux of stimulated photonic radiation to emanate from said location;examining said flux using a multi-channel photon-counting detector, thus accruing a measured spectrum for said location; andautomatically repeating said directing and examining steps for a series of successive locations on the sample,choosing a beam parameter of the input beam that will influence a magnitude of said flux of stimulated photonic radiation;for each location within a first set of locations on the sample, accruing a spectrum using a first value of said beam parameter;for each location within a second set of locations on the sample, accruing a spectrum using a second value of said beam parameter, different from said first value. 2. The method of claim 1, comprising:selecting said first value of the beam parameter;in a first measurement run, maintaining said first value of the beam parameter whilst acquiring a spectrum for each location in said first set of locations;selecting said second value of the beam parameter; andin a second measurement run, maintaining said second value of the beam parameter whilst acquiring a spectrum for each location in said second set of locations. 3. The method of claim 2, comprising:during said first measurement run, generating an event signal if the detector encounters two successive photons that are separated by a temporal interval below a given acceptance value;generating a flag signal if, at a given location Lf, the number of generated event signals exceeds a particular threshold, and storing the location Lf in a memory;in response to generation of the flag signal, choosing said second value of the beam parameter so as to reduce the magnitude of said flux of stimulated photonic radiation; andchoosing the second set of locations to include at least a subset of the locations Lf. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein:if an event signal is generated at a location Le, the detector data associated with that event signal are stored in a buffer; anddata from this buffer are included in the accrued spectrum for location Le, but are labeled as being associated with an event signal. 5. The method of claim 1, in which:the input beam comprises radiation selected from the group comprising electrons, X-rays, gamma rays, protons, positrons or ions;the flux of stimulated photonic radiation comprises X-rays; andthe beam parameter is selected from the group comprising current and intensity. 6. The method of claim 5, in which:the input beam comprises electrons; andthe flux of stimulated photonic radiation is examined using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. 7. A charged-particle microscope constructed and arranged to perform the method of claim 1. 8. A charged-particle microscope for examining a sample, comprising:a vacuum chamber including a sample holder for holding a sample;a particle optical column for producing a charged particle beam for irradiating the sample, thereby producing an interaction that causes a flux of stimulated photonic radiation to emanate from the sample;a first detector for detecting the flux of stimulated photonic radiation emanating from the sample;a second detector for detecting a different type of stimulated radiation emanating from the sample; anda computer processing controller including computer instructions for performing:mounting the sample on a sample holder;directing a focused input beam of radiation onto a location on the sample, thereby producing an interaction that causes a flux of stimulated photonic radiation to emanate from said location;examining said flux using a multi-channel photon-counting detector, thus accruing a measured spectrum for said location; andautomatically repeating said directing and examining steps for a series of successive locations on the sample,choosing a beam parameter of the input beam that will influence a magnitude of said flux of stimulated photonic radiation;for each location within a first set of locations on the sample, accruing a spectrum using a first value of said beam parameter;for each location within a second set of locations on the sample, accruing a spectrum using a second value of said beam parameter, different from said first value. 9. The charged-particle microscope of claim 8 in which the computer instructions comprise:selecting said first value of the beam parameter;in a first measurement run, maintaining said first value of the beam parameter whilst acquiring a spectrum for each location in said first set of locations;selecting said second value of the beam parameter; andin a second measurement run, maintaining said second value of the beam parameter whilst acquiring a spectrum for each location in said second set of locations. 10. The charged-particle microscope of claim 9 in which the computer instructions comprise:during said first measurement run, generating an event signal if the detector encounters two successive photons that are separated by a temporal interval below a given acceptance value;generating a flag signal if, at a given location Lf, the number of generated event signals exceeds a particular threshold, and storing the location Lf in a memory;in response to generation of the flag signal, choosing said second value of the beam parameter so as to reduce the magnitude of said flux of stimulated photonic radiation; andchoosing the second set of locations to include at least a subset of the locations Lf. 11. The charged-particle microscope of claim 10 in which the computer instruction comprise:if an event signal is generated at a location Le, the detector data associated with that event signal are stored in a buffer; anddata from this buffer are included in the accrued spectrum for location Le, but are labeled as being associated with an event signal. 12. The charged-particle microscope of claim 10 in which:the beam comprises radiation selected from the group comprising electrons, X-rays, gamma rays, protons, positrons or ions;the flux of stimulated photonic radiation comprises X-rays; andthe beam parameter is selected from the group comprising current and intensity. 13. The charged-particle microscope of claim 12 in which:the input beam comprises electrons; andthe flux of stimulated photonic radiation is examined using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. 14. The charged-particle microscope of claim 8 in which the first detector comprises an x-ray detector. 15. The charged-particle microscope of claim 9 in which the x-ray detector is an EDX or EDS detector. 16. The charged-particle microscope of claim 8 in which the second detector comprises a segmented detector.