Determination Of Nitrogen and Other Elements in Plant Material By X-Ray Fluorescence

Abstract

In the early years, the element range covered by the Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray fluorescence (WDXRF) technique was restricted by the quality of vacuum, crystals and detectors in the system. The lightest element detectable was Aluminium (Z = 13). The area of light element analysis had obvious potential for extension over the years. It created the barrier for XRP coverage of the Periodic Table because the naturally softer radiations lay out of range of the technique. In the middle of the 1980's, new technology became available for the manufacture of synthetic crystals with artificially created 2d spacings to suit the X-ray wavelength range of interest. These hyered synthetic microstructures (also called “multilayer crystals”) allowed more sensitivity to be achieved in this part of the spectrum, and the bottom element limit soon moved down towards lighter elements.