Improved X-Ray Fluorescence Capabilities by Excitation with High Intensity Polarized X-Rays

Abstract

Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence is an established and versatile tool for measuring major and trace elements in virtually any kind of solid or liquid specimen. The usefulness of the method could he extended even further if the time of analysis for multicomponent samples could he reduced. In other words, we desire to analyze a wide range of elements with detection limits at least as good as obtained when the excitation conditions are optimized for a specific element or narrow range of elements. A major impediment to achieving this goal when analyzing bulk, low-Z materials is the scatter of source radiation into the detector by the specimen being analyzed. The adverse effects of the scattered radiation are its contribution to the background signal (i.e., “noise“) and its overwhelming contribution to the limited counting rate of the system electronics.