Quantification of beryllium in thin films using proton backscattering

Abstract The strong resonance in the 1 H- 9 Be backscattering cross section near 1 H laboratory energy 2525 keV has been used to determine 9 Be areal densities in thin films with accuracies of about 6%. We report measured cross sections (for a 170.5° laboratory backscattering angle) for 1 H on 9 Be for 1 H energies from 2400 to 2700 keV. The areal densities of the self-supporting Be foils used for the 1 H- 9 Be measurements were determined from 4 He- 9 Be backscattering measurements. We also report measured cross sections for 170.5° backscattering of 4 He by 9 Be for 4 He laboratory energies of 500 to 4200 keV. Results of channeling measurements in epitaxial Be films on crystalline substrates are also discussed.