An XRF method for determination of common rare earth impurities in high purity yttrium oxide

An XRF method for the estimation of Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er and Yb in yttrium oxide has been developed. Samples are converted to yttrium oxalate and presented to the spectrometer in the form of pressed pellets. Philips PW-1220, a semi-automatic x-ray spectrometer, is used for the analysis. Line interference problems are studied for selecting analysis lines. For the elements except that of Yb, the lower estimation limit is 0.005% and for Yb, it is 0.01%. The average standard deviation is approximately 5% for various elements in the concentration range of 0.005% to 1.0%. The method has been tested for its accuracy by analysing synthesized samples with known composition at three different concentrations. (author)