Fluorescence of anisotropic primary X-ray radiation

Abstract

In the X-ray spectral fluorescence analysis, the anisotropy of primary radiation results in an uneven radiation of a sample’s surface, strengthening the role of some sections and weakening the role of others. The goal of the current work was to determine the minimal distance from the window of the X-ray tube with a cone-shaped anode at which the intensity of the sample’s radiation becomes homogeneous. The research method was the computer modeling of the X-ray fluorescence experiment. The working model was built on the basis of two equations for the densities of the fluxes of braking and characteristic radiations of the massive anode, which took into account the absorption of primary radiation by the anode’s material and the back-scattering of electrons. The ring source was represented in the model as the sum of infinitely small linear elements of equal power, and the sample was disc-shaped and coaxial with the source. The calculation diagram was very well consistent with the experimental diagram of radiation’s direction described in the research literature. Two spatial distributions were calculated. The first one described the distribution of primary radiation’s intensity on the surface of the sample, while the second one described the distribution of the fluorescent radiation, which was more valuable for the X-ray spectrometry. The calculations showed that although the second distribution, unlike the first one, considered the absorption of the primary radiation and secondary radiation in the sample, the shapes of both radiations were close. It was demonstrated that the area of the sample, which carried the most information on the composition of the irradiated material, was ring-shaped, and the width of this ring depended on the distance to the X-ray tube’s window. As the distance increased, the diagram of the spatial distribution of the radiation’s intensity became smoother, and, when the distance exceeded two diameters of the anode, the radiation became homogeneous. The constructed model, which considered the anisotropy of the primary analysis, could be applied in the method of fundamental parameters of X-ray fluorescence analysis for a spectrometer with compressed geometry.