Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A microscope system comprising:a scanning electron microscope for generating an electron beam operating with electron energy greater than an absorption-edge energy of an element of interest and irradiating a test object to induce secondary fluorescence X-ray radiation from the element of interest;an image detector comprising a detector array with a two dimensional array of elements; anda zone plate lens for selectively imaging the secondary fluorescence X-ray radiation, generated by the electron beam of the scanning electron microscope, from the element of interest onto the image detector. 2. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lens is a chromatic lens. 3. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a spectral filter. 4. A microscope system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the spectral filter is a multilayer optic. 5. A microscope system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the spectral filter is a crystal. 6. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a pupil aperture for improving preferential imaging of the secondary radiation. 7. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the zone plate lens has a high diffraction efficiency for an energy of a fluorescence line of the element of interest. 8. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lens is made of a compound including the element of interest. 9. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the element of interest is aluminum and the lens comprises aluminum. 10. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the element of interest is copper and the lens comprises copper. 11. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the element of interest is tantalum and the lens comprises tantalum. 12. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the element of interest is phosphorus and the lens comprises a phosphorus compound. 13. A microscope system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the element of interest is boron and the lens comprises a boron compound. 14. A microscopic imaging method, comprising:irradiating a test object with an electron beam of a scanning electron microscope;selectively imaging induced secondary fluorescence X-ray radiation from the test object, being generated by the electron beam of the scanning electron microscope, with a chromatic lens; anddetecting the secondary fluorescence X-ray radiation imaged by the chromatic lens using an image detector with a two dimensional array of elements. 15. A method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising aperturing the secondary fluorescence X-ray radiation prior to detecting the secondary fluorescence X-ray radiation to improve preferential imaging of the secondary radiation. 16. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the chromatic lens is a zone plate lens. 17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the zone plate lens has a high diffraction efficiency for an energy of a fluorescence line of an element of interest.