SR TXRF: performances and perspectives of a dedicated synchrotron beamline

In principle the brilliance of synchrotron radiation x-ray beams combined with a high degree of linear polarization allows to reach at the same time low LLDs, mapping of the impurity distribution and chemical identification for elements as light as Na. The TXRF facility at the European synchrotron radiation facility is installed along a beamline dedicated to industry and is designed to reach ultimate detection limits of 6 x 107 at/cm2 in selected areas, or to map the concentration of contaminants with LLD in the scale 109 at/cm2. In the present configuration the facility works in vacuum with a single element detector. Loading, unloading and pump down of wafers is completely automatic. Typical DDLs are of few 109 at/cm2 for Na and Al and 108 at/cm2 for transition metals. Absorption spectra (XANES and EXAFS) of TM help in the defining the chemistry of the contaminant. (author)