Studies in nuclear and atomic activation analysis

Abstract

Two techniques based on the nuclear and atomic activations induced by charged particle bombardment have been explored: high energy heavy ion induced L and M x-ray emission and the combination of nuclear and atomic activations induced during a single beam exposure. Characteristic K, L, and M x-ray and background radiation production yields for high energy heavy ion bombardment on a wide range of targets (14 (greater than or equal to) Z (greater than or equal to) 92) were measured. The ion beams used include: ~ 0.5 MeV/amu ¹⁴N⁺, ¹⁶0 ⁺, ⁶³Cu⁴⁺, ⁸²Kr⁵⁺, and ¹²⁹X (raised to the power of r+), ~ 1.0 MeV/amu ¹⁴N²⁺, ¹⁶0²⁺, ⁶³Cu⁵⁺, ⁸⁴Kr⁷⁺, and also 1.65 MeV/amu ¹H⁺. X-ray production for K, L, and M shell x-rays follow approximately identical trends, i.e. yields increase with beam energy and atomic number and decrease with increasing x-ray energy. Broader simultaneous multielement coverage was achieved by using K, L, and M lines. For example, experimental detection limits (with a 1000 s irradiation at 70 nA using 1 MeV/amu ⁸⁴Kr⁷⁺ of 0.8 to 10 ppm were obtained for the elements between Mn and Se with K x-ray detection, between Sm and Pb using L x-ray detection, and for Th and U via M x-ray detection. These detection limits were better in many cases than those offered by proton induced x-ray emission..