EDXRF analysis for elements of adjacent atomic number but grossly different concentrations

Abstract A method to overcome difficulties inherent in quantitative analysis by energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence of samples that contain widely different concentrations of two or more elements having similar atomic numbers ( Z ) was investigated. Results obtained by computer simulations and simple experiments show that significant increases in the intensities of the x-rays emitted by the lower- Z element relative to those from the higher- Z element can be achieved through the proper design of a primary-source secondary-fluorescer exciter system and a detector window filter.