TY - JOUR
T1 - Grazing-exit particle-induced X-ray emission analysis with extremely low background
AU - Tsuji, Kouichi
AU - Spolnik, Zoya
AU - Wagatsuma, Kazuaki
AU - Van Grieken, René E.
AU - Vis, Ronald D.
PY - 1999/11/15
Y1 - 1999/11/15
N2 - The grazing-exit technique is applied to particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis of thin-films and aerosols deposited on fiat silicon wafers. PIXE is known as a trace-analytical method; however, Bremsstrahlung background is still important in the low-energy region. A 2.5 MeV proton beam bombarded the sample at an incident angle of 90°, and the emitted X-rays were detected at grazing exit angles by using an energy-dispersive detector. When the characteristic X-rays were measured at grazing exit angles, this background almost disappeared. The characteristic X-rays of Ca Kα and Zn Kα emitted from atmospheric particles could hardly be observed by PIXE in the normal arrangement; however, they were clearly observed with low background under grazing-exit conditions. The detection limit for Ca was improved by a factor of 7. It is also demonstrated that analysis of the topmost layer and depth analysis for double-layered samples are both possible by adjusting the exit angle. Consequently, grazing-exit PIXE is a promising method for surface-, micro-, and trace analysis.
AB - The grazing-exit technique is applied to particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis of thin-films and aerosols deposited on fiat silicon wafers. PIXE is known as a trace-analytical method; however, Bremsstrahlung background is still important in the low-energy region. A 2.5 MeV proton beam bombarded the sample at an incident angle of 90°, and the emitted X-rays were detected at grazing exit angles by using an energy-dispersive detector. When the characteristic X-rays were measured at grazing exit angles, this background almost disappeared. The characteristic X-rays of Ca Kα and Zn Kα emitted from atmospheric particles could hardly be observed by PIXE in the normal arrangement; however, they were clearly observed with low background under grazing-exit conditions. The detection limit for Ca was improved by a factor of 7. It is also demonstrated that analysis of the topmost layer and depth analysis for double-layered samples are both possible by adjusting the exit angle. Consequently, grazing-exit PIXE is a promising method for surface-, micro-, and trace analysis.
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U2 - 10.1021/ac990568u
DO - 10.1021/ac990568u
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032713073
VL - 71
SP - 5033
EP - 5036
JO - Industrial And Engineering Chemistry Analytical Edition
JF - Industrial And Engineering Chemistry Analytical Edition
SN - 0003-2700
IS - 22
ER -