Quantitative x‐ray fluorescence analysis of Fe—Al and Cu—Fe binary alloys using selective excitation

Abstract

AbstractThree excitation modes for Fe—Al binary alloys were compared using an energy‐dispersive spectrometer system. A set‐up with an appropriate secondary target to achieve selective excitation of aluminium proved to be a good solution for the determination of aluminium with a precision of ±0.2 at.% Al for concentrations between 40 and 60 at.% and an extrapolated lower limit of detection (LLD) of 0.04 wt.% (0.08 at.%) for Al in Fe. Experimental data were compared with theoretical calculations and showed good agreement. The geometry of the irradiation chamber improved the peak‐to‐background ratio due to polarization effects. The method was also applied for the analysis of Cu—Fe binary alloys with low Fe concentrations (1 at.%) with similarly good results, and an extrapolated LLD in the ppm range for Fe in Cu. A non‐destructive analysis was required as the samples were needed for Mössbauer spectrometric experiments in later investigations.