Method and system for spectroscopic data analysis

1. A method of analysing spectroscopic data the method comprising:

directing an electron beam onto a sample;

collecting spatially resolved measurement x-ray spectroscopic data of a sample for a series of measurements spots, the x-rays generated by the impact of the electron beam at each measurement spot;

assigning the measurement spots into a predefined set of spectral categories, based on characteristics of the spectroscopic data of the respective measurement spots;

identifying groupings of the measurement spots based on their respective spectral categories and their spatial relationships;

assigning each grouping of measurement spots to a fundamental sample unit data object; and

utilizing a hierarchical structure of general information data objects that embody the hierarchical relationships of the general information assigned to the fundamental sample unit data objects, with relationships defined as being either “up” the hierarchy, that is away from the fundamental sample unit data objects, or “down” the hierarchy, that is towards the fundamental sample unit data object, and wherein the general information assigned to a fundamental sample unit data object is stored in the general information data object in the hierarchical structure that represents the manner in which said general information data is shared by the fundamental sample unit data objects.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein data items obtainable from each general information data object in the hierarchical structure comprise all of the data items stored in said general information data object, plus all data items obtainable from general information data objects further “up” the hierarchical structure.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structure and choice of storage locations within the hierarchical structure follow a predefined pattern.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structure and choice of storage locations within the hierarchical structure are determined and changed dynamically as-needed.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising assigning one or more properties to each spectral category.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising assigning general information, including measurement information and/or sample information, to each fundamental sample unit data object.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , further comprising calculating one or more derived properties for each fundamental sample unit data object based on one or more of a group comprising the measurement spots assigned to the fundamental sample unit data object, the one or more properties assigned to the spectral categories of the measurement spots, the general information assigned to the fundamental sample unit data object, and the spatial relationships of the measurement spots.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the derived properties comprise one or more of a group comprising mass, area, perimeter, volume, size and density.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the predefined set of spectral categories comprises a hierarchical grouping of categories.

10. A method of analysing spectroscopic data the method comprising:

directing an electron beam onto a sample;

collecting spatially resolved measurement x-ray spectroscopic data of a sample for a series of measurements spots, the x-rays generated by the impact of the electron beam at each measurement spot;

assigning the measurement spots into a predefined set of spectral categories, based on characteristics of the spectroscopic data of the respective measurement spots;

identifying groupings of the measurement spots based on their respective spectral categories and their spatial relationships;

assigning each grouping of measurement spots to a fundamental sample unit data object;

formulating an analysis query; and

defining the analysis query as a sequential series of processing stages, each processing stage having one or more inputs and one or more outputs;

wherein, during execution of the analysis query, one or more of the fundamental sample unit data objects are sequentially provided to each processing stage input as input streams, and processed and output as respective output streams of fundamental sample unit data objects at each processing stage output; and

wherein the output stream or streams from one processing stage are the input streams for the next processing stage in the sequential series of processing stages.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the processing at each processing stage comprises:

passing a received fundamental sample unit data object as-is to one or more processing stage outputs, or

creating one or more new fundamental sample unit data objects based on the received fundamental sample unit data object, wherein the new fundamental sample unit data objects inherit the general information assigned to the received fundamental sample unit data object and retain a reference back to the received fundamental sample unit data object, and passing each new fundamental sample unit data objects to one or more processing stage outputs.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein one or more logical expressions are utilised for assigning the received or the new fundamental sample unit data objects to one or more of the processing stage outputs.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the new fundamental sample unit data object is created to separate respective groupings of measurement spots which were initially assigned to one fundamental sample unit data object.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein one of the processing stages produces a statistically representative population of fundamental sample unit data objects as the output stream for normalisation processing in subsequent processing stages.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the statistically representative population of fundamental sample unit data objects comprises fundamental sample unit data objects from different samples.

16. The method as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising assigning one or more properties to each spectral category.

17. The method as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising assigning general information, including measurement information and/or sample information, to each fundamental sample unit data object.

18. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the predefined set of spectral categories comprises a hierarchical grouping of categories.