The potential of microcalorimeter x-ray spectrometers for measurement of relative fluorescence line intensities

Published

September 18, 2022

Author(s)

Joseph Fowler, Luis Miaja Avila, Galen O'Neil, Joel Ullom, Hope Whitelock, Daniel Swetz

Abstract

We have previously used an array of cryogenic microcalorimeters with 4 eV energy resolution to measure emission-line profiles and energies for the characteristic L-shell x rays of four elements of the lanthanide series: praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, and holmium. We consider the power of this same data set for the estimation of the lines' relative intensities. Intensities must be corrected for detector efficiency and self-absorption effects, and we estimate uncertainties on the corrections. These data represent the first use of cryogenic energy-dispersive sensors to estimate the relative intensities of x-ray fluorescence lines. They demonstrate that a targeted measurement of thin-film samples with microcalorimeter detectors could achieve systematic uncertainties below 1% on relative line intensities over a broad energy range.

Citation

Radiation Physics and Chemistry

Volume

202

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2022.110487

Local Download

Keywords

Microcalorimeters, rare earth elements, lanthanide-series elements, x-ray fluorescence spectra, relative fluorescence intensities

Citation

Fowler, J. , Miaja Avila, L. , O'Neil, G. , Ullom, J. , Whitelock, H. and Swetz, D. (2022), The potential of microcalorimeter x-ray spectrometers for measurement of relative fluorescence line intensities, Radiation Physics and Chemistry, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2022.110487, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=934471 (Accessed October 17, 2025)