X-ray fluorescent (XRF) configuration for the measurement of mass attenuation coefficients at low energy photons

Abstract

An X-ray fluorescent (XRF) configuration was used to measure the mass attenuation coefficient of materials at low energy photons. An Americium-241 (241Am) annular source was used in conjunction with niobium, palladium, molybdenum and tin plates that provided Kα1 photons with energies between 16.59 and 25.26 keV. The transmitted photons were measured by using a low energy Germanium (LEGe) detector and analyzed by using MAESTRO software. A calibration with 241Am showed good linearity between photon energies and peak channels with R2 value near to 1. The measurement of mass attenuation coefficient was carried out on Al plates and Perspex based on the transmitted photons on the samples. The measured mass attenuation coefficients were compared to the XCOM calculations. The results showed that the measured mass attenuation coefficients of aluminum and Perspex® were in good agreement to their XCOM values within 10% percentage of discrepancies at all experimented photon energies. The overall results indicated the suitability of the XRF configuration for the measurement of mass attenuation coefficients at low energy photons.