X-ray fluorescence

The X-ray fluorescence is due to the photoelectric effect produced by the gamma photons from a source (in this case of Americium) on the inner (K,L) shells of the atoms of the sample to be investigated. The X-ray spectra emitted following the occupation of the vacancies left behind the electron kicked-off its shell are used to get qualitative and quantitative information. The report presents measurements on a high energy resolution Si(Li) photodetector used in X-ray fluorescence applications. Particularly, the quantitative performances of the measuring procedures were investigated, i.e. the effect of experimental conditions and, possibly, the photon-matrix material interactions on the calculation of concentration ratios and quantitative element determination. So, the final objective of this study was to evaluate and validate the utilized methods as well as their precision limits. Results obtained with a cadmium sample in concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 50 mmol/l show an error ranging from 6.4% to 0.76%. The determinations will be extended to solid material samples (metals, alloys, powders, etc)