Excitation and detection of high energy characteristic x-rays (20-90 keV) using a novel radiometric technique

This paper describes a new radioisotope excited technique for x-ray fluorescence which employs ''direct'' beta particle excitation to produce characteristic x-rays for elemental analysis. A planar Ge detector, which has about a 100% efficiency in the range of about 20 to 100 keV, was employed to investigate 57Co, 241Am, 147Pm, and 63Ni. It is concluded that both the planar Ge and HgI2 systems can be applied for specific applications using conventional radioisotope x-ray fluorescence as well as the described radiometric technique