X-Ray spectrometric studies using thin silicon crystals. Advantages and applications
(EN)
Karydas, A. G.
Zarkadas, Ch.
Paradellis, T.
Kyriakis, A.
Huber, A.
Pantazis, J.
Redus, R.
Potiriadis, C.
This paper presents the peak-to-background ratio improvement, which can be achieved in PIXE and XRF applications by the use of thin crystal detectors. This improvement becomes apparent in the presence of an intense γ-ray source, which can be produced either after proton irradiation of a sample (PIXE), or after the deexcitation of the radionuclide in Radioisotope induced XRF analysis (RIXRF). In order to study theoretically the energy response of a silicon crystal in the X-ray energy region with respect to its thickness and the energy of the incident yradiation, a Monte-Carlo simulation was performed. Experimentally, two detectors having crystal thickness of 300 urn and 3 mm respectively were employed in specific analytical applications of PIXE, PIXE induced XRF and RIXRF techniques. The peak-to-background ratios obtained for various characteristic X-rays were compared between the two detectors. The performance of the two detectors was also compared in monochromatic XRF analysis of samples with low average atomic number matrix content.
(EN)
