FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETER PROGRAMS: ALGORITHMS FOR THE DESCRIPTION OF K, L AND M SPECTRA OF X-RAY TUBES

Electron excited continuous and characteristic x radiations of pure elements were investigated employing an electron probe micro analyzer with an energy dispersive detection system. The measurements were performed on 23 elements and acceleration voltages from 5kV to 30kV. Continuous spectra are described by a modified Kramers cross section. For absorption correction of continuous and characteristic spectra in the target Love and Scott’s concept of a constant depth distribution function of x-ray generation is employed. Thus, it is possible to describe the x radiations of an x-ray tube with arbitrarily chosen target by a set of three fundamental parameters. These parameters are const and x for continuous radiation and Constjkl for characteristic radiations. Numerical values of const, x and Constjkl were obtained by least squares fits of theoretical responses to measured data. When compared to the results of earlier investigations a considerably improved description of characteristic spectra is possible.