The study of X-ray full-field imaging method for low atomic number elements based on Compton scattering

Abstract

Full-field X-ray fluorescence imaging cannot image low atomic number (Z < 12) materials because the characteristic X-ray fluorescence produced by low atomic number (Z < 12) materials is severely attenuated in air. In this paper, we propose a method to combine Compton scattering with full-field X-ray fluorescence imaging, which can realize the imaging of both metals (high atomic number) and organic materials (low atomic number), and compensate the defect that the conventional FF-XRFI technique cannot image materials with low atomic number such as organic materials. The imaging experiments were performed using two materials, zirconium metal and polyethylene, and the imaging results were optimized using a density filtering algorithm, and the results indicate that it is possible to use this method to image samples of high and low atomic number with resolution.