Montecarlo simulation for a new high resolution elemental analysis methodology

Full text. Spectra generated by binary, ternary and multielement matrixes when irradiated by a variable energy photon beam are simulated by means of a Monte Carlo code. Significative jumps in the counting rate are shown when the photon energy is just over the edge associated to each element, because of the emission of characteristic X rays. For a given associated energy, the net height of these jumps depends mainly on the concentration and of the sample absorption coefficient. The spectra were obtained by a monochromatic energy scan considering all the emitted radiation by the sample in a 2π solid angle, associating a single multichannel spectrometer channel to each incident energy (Multichannel Scaling (MCS) mode). The simulated spectra were made with Monte Carlo simulation software adaptation of the package called PENELOPE (Penetration and Energy Loss of Positrons and Electrons in matter). The results show that it is possible to implement a new high resolution spectroscopy methodology, where a synchrotron would be an ideal source, due to the high intensity and ability to control the energy of the incident beam. The high energy resolution would be determined by the monochromating system and not by the detection system and not by the detection system, which would basicalbe a photon counter. (author)