Measurement of L_α and L_β1,3,4 fluorescence cross sections of La, Ce, Pr and Nd induced by photons of energies between 7.01 keV and 8.75 keV

This study presents measurement results of x-ray production cross sections of L_α and L_β1,3,4 emitted by four lanthanoid elements (La, Ce, Pr and Nd), after irradiation with K_α and K_β X rays of the elements Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn (covering energies between 7.01 keV and 8.75 keV). Primary x-rays were induced in turn by the irradiation of thick targets of these elements with a beam of x-rays produced by a tube with an Rh anode, operating at 50 kV and 850 μA. The experimental results are compared with theoretical cross sections predicted using known tabulations of photoelectric cross sections. Dirac-Hartree-Slater (DHS) atomic parameters were used for these calculations. An acceptable match between experiment and both sets of tabulated data is found. - Highlights: • Photoelectric cross sections are measured for very low exciting photon energies. • Two theoretical databases are used to evaluate the results. • This kind of results is useful to determine other atomic parameters in lanthanoids.