The application of energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence and the fundamental parameter approach to the analysis of NiFeCr alloys

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AbstractThe fundamental parameter approach has been applied to NiFeCr alloys using an energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometer employing secondary target excitation. The relative distributions of primary, secondary and tertiary fluorescence for these alloys and some of the assumptions inherent in the fundamental parameter approach are discussed both on a theoretical and an experimental basis. For a series of hypothetical NiFeCr alloys, our theoretical calculations show that the tertiary fluorescence contribution to the Cr intensity varies from 0.1 to 7.25% dependent on composition and on excitation energy. Furthermore, a general calibration procedure independent of the sample matrix and the kV, mA and collimator settings is outlined. The analysis results obtained for six reference alloys proved to be accurate within 5% for most elements. The results obtained with and without tertiary fluorescence included in the model deviate 2–5% only. This is partly due to a matrix absorption correction compensation in the latter case.