Synchrotron radiation x-ray fluorescence analysis

A systematic study of the minimum detection limits obtainable with synchrotron radiation continuum excitation has been made for thin samples of 10 elements distributed across the periodic table. Energy dispersion and wavelength dispersion measurements are included; the results show that both techniques achieve comparable values, ranging from 10-3 to 10-1+g/cm2, where line interference is absent. With the very small primary beam used for the energy dispersion measurements, this represents absolute detectability of 10-12 to 10 -10 g, in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions. 4 figures, 5 tables