CdTe detector efficiency calibration using thick targets of pure and stable compounds

Quantitative PIXE measurements require perfectly calibrated set-ups. Cooled CdTe detectors have good efficiency for energies above those covered by Si(Li) detectors and turn on the possibility of studying K X-rays lines instead of L X-rays lines for medium and eventually heavy elements, which is an important advantage in various cases, if only limited resolution systems are available in the low energy range. In this work we present and discuss spectra from a CdTe semiconductor detector covering the energy region from Cu (Kα1 = 8.047 keV) to U (Kα1 = 98.439 keV). Pure thick samples were irradiated with proton beams at the ITN 3.0 MV Tandetron accelerator in the High Resolution High Energy PIXE set-up. Results and the application to the study of a Portuguese Ossa Morena region Dark Stone sample are presented in this work.