Rapid Determination of Major and Trace Elements in Geological Material with Proton-Induced X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Emission
Author
Summary, in English
The simultaneous detection of proton-induced X-rays and gamma-rays enables rapid determination of both major and trace elements in thick homogeneous samples. Using protons of energy 2.55 MeV, the atomic numbers of the elements detectable with this technique were Z=3, 5, 9, 11–13 from gamma-ray analysis and Z=13–92 from X-ray analysis. Thick target concentrations were determined from a thoroughly made thin target calibration and from matrix-dependent conversion factors calculated from fundamental parameters. The major compositions of samples needed in these calculations are derived in an iterative procedure using the spectra recorded. The method proposed has been tested on six USGS rock standards. Detection limits for one of the standards are presented. Approximately 20 elements were detected in each sample 5 min irradiations. For elements well above their detection limits, the results are typically accurate to within 5%. The precision of repeated day-to-day analysis is about 2% (one standard deviation).
Department/s
Publishing year
1981
Language
English
Pages
531-537
Publication/Series
Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research. Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors, and Associated Equipment
Volume
181
Issue
1-3
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics
- Subatomic Physics
Keywords
- geologic material
- gamma analysis
- trace element analysis
- PIXE
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0167-5087