Applying Hard X-rays to determination of the minimum detection levels of rare earth element by the XRFA-SR method
In 2014, first experiments on analysis of the elemental composition of samples by their X-ray fluorescence spectra were performed at the new synchrotron radiation (SR) station using radiation from the 7-pole wiggler on VEPP-4M at the Siberian Center for Synchrotron and Terahertz Radiation (SCSTR). The samples to study were certified Russian and international standards of igneous rocks and lake sediments (AGV-1, BCR-1, SVT-16A, DNC-1, BIR-1, SGD-1A, G-2, and BIL-1). The first results were obtained at the minimum detection limits (MDLs) of heavy and rare earth elements (Z = 55–66) based on the lines of the K series of the characteristic radiation excited by photons with energies of 56 and 69.2 KeV. The resulting detection limits of these elements vary from 0.5 to 2 ppm (g/t).