Elemental Analysis X-ray emission spectroscopy, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) are well established techniques used for identifying elements in unknown materials. The precision of analysis and the detection limits are dictated by the brilliance and resolution of the x-ray source and detector. Moxtek® x-ray sources, based on the MAGNUM® technology, provide an excellent spectrum purity and high brilliance necessary for high resolution quantitative XRF analysis. Table 1 shows the characteristics of typical Moxtek x-ray sources and Figure 1 shows examples of the spectra optimized for a specific application. Another characteristic of the x-ray source critical for the elemental analysis is the stability of the output. Figure 2 shows the long term stability of x-ray sources. Tube type
(@40kV) | Photons/s
/sr/0.1mA | Max photons/s
/sr | Solid angle (sr)
& full cone angle | Est. total flux
photons/s/0.1mA | % Of counts in
main excitation peaks | | Au (type A) | 6.1 x1011 | 3.0 x1011 (@50 μA) | ˜2π(0.9 ), 170° | ˜34 x1011 | 26% (Lα & Lβ) | | Au (type B) | 3.0 x1011 | 6.0 x1011 (@200 μA) | ˜2π(0.06), 40° | ˜1.1 x1011 | 28% (Lα & Lβ) | | Au (@50 kV) | 4.6 x1011 | 9.2 x1011 (@200 μA) | ˜2π(0.06), 40° | ˜1.7 x1011 | 22% (Lα & Lβ) | | W | 2.7 x1011 | 2.7 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.06), 40° | ˜1.0 x1011 | 25% (Lα & Lβ) | | W side window | 3.0x1011 | 3.0 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.09), 50° | ˜1.7 x1011 | 25% (Lα & Lβ) | | Cr side window | 1.9 x1011 | 1.9 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.09), 50° | ˜0.7 x1011 | 64% (88% Kα & 12% Kβ) | | Mo | 1.3 x1011 | 1.3 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.06), 40° | ˜0.5 x1011 | 13% (Kα) | | Ag | 1.4 x1011 | 1.4 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.06), 40° | ˜0.5 x1011 | 5% (Kα) | | Ag (@30kV) | 0.8 x1011 | 0.8 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.06), 40° | ˜0.3 x1011 | 2.3% (Kα) | | Ag Microfocus (@30kV) | 0.9 x1011 | 0.9 x1011 (@100 μA) | ˜2π(0.02), 25° | ˜0.1 x1011 | 2.7% (Kα) |
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