Matrix effects in pixe evaluation of the major components in thick homogeneous samples

Abstract

Matrix effects on the major component X-ray yields in PIXE measurements are studied in general terms with the AuCuAg matrix as practical example. Postulating firstly that all the major components may be simultaneously detected through one well-isolated peak for each of them, and secondly that a known reference material is available which contains all the elements of the unknown sample, we propose a direct method to extract the true concentrations of the latter taking into account the matrix effects. The geometrical parameters describing the target location with respect to ion beam direction and detector position are also studied and a first attempt is made to include them in the data treatment.