Abstract
Determination of pure element intensities is important in EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis) analysis. In a previous paper, we have studied three determination methods of pure element intensities: the pure thick metal foil, oxide, and low concentration methods. The pure element intensities of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, and Mo were determined using the three methods. In this paper, we study the theoretical relations of pure element intensities, mass absorption coefficients, and parameters n and n o in the Brag–Pierce law. We evaluate n by using the multielement intensities and n o by using the pure-element intensities. Most previous studies showed that the value of n was about 2.2–3.0. Our experimental results show that the value of n obtained by using the multielement intensities is different from that of n o obtained by using the pure-element intensities. The n value is 2.552, i.e., it is in the range of 2.2–3.0 while n o is equal to 1.627, i.e., it is out of the range 2.2–3.0. It is possible to calculate the pure element intensities theoretically using the formulas and the value of n o obtained in this study.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Dr Lau Chi-Kwan and Shailesh Redkar for theit technical advice, and Miss Emily S. W. Ong (National University of Singapore) and Mr Anthony K. P. Yeo (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore) for their technical assistance.