Measurements of the effective atomic numbers of minerals using bremsstrahlung produced by low-energy electrons

Highlights: • Effective Z values of minerals measured using bremsstrahlung intensities. • Method is independent of detector resolution and maximum electron beam energy. • Method could potentially be used with EDX to characterize thick targets. The accuracy of a method for measuring the effective atomic numbers of minerals using bremsstrahlung intensities has been investigated. The method is independent of detector-efficiency and maximum accelerating voltage. In order to test the method, experiments were performed which involved low-energy electrons incident on thick malachite, pyrite, and galena targets. The resultant thick-target bremsstrahlung was compared to bremsstrahlung produced using a standard target, and experimental effective atomic numbers were calculated using data from a previous study (in which the Z-dependence of thick-target bremsstrahlung was studied). Comparisons of the results to theoretical values suggest that the method has potential for implementation in energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy systems.