Hi Jian,
As Li element has very low energy of characteristic radiation thus SE detector cant detect it and that results in non visibility of Li metal. As presently our conventional SEM can detect till Z>= 4 at the best case.
I have worked in LiPON layer (ALD) which are generally 20-40 nm and also it is in stack with TiN or SiO2 below it and Al2O3 above it which resulted in ability to identify it. This is used in Battery.
But if you want to view Li Metal there is this new developed method which might help, I have not personally tried it but you can have a look at the research paper and theoretically I do think it is solid enough and you can view Li under SEM with Soft-X-ray Emission Spectroscopy
Please have look at this paper :
Chemical State Analysis with Soft-X-ray Emission Spectroscopy Based on SEM Terauchi, M., et al. (2014). Article in Hyomen Kagaku 36(4):184-188 · April 2015
Hope it helps
-HP
Dear Jian,
You can use electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) for determining Lithium. Check a few examples at the next bibliography:
Single-atom electron energy loss spectroscopy of light elements Nat Commun. 2015; 6: 7943.
EELS probing of lithium based 2-D battery compounds processed by liquid
phase exfoliation Nano Energy 30 (2016) 18–26
Regards,
Gil
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