Determination of Kα,β excitation factors in thin target for selected elements from Y to Te at 59.54 keV excitation energy

• The EKα and EKβ were determined at 59.54 keV for some selected elements from Y to Te.
• These parameters were obtained by measuring the σKi and σt.
• It is the first time that EKα and EKβ have been determined for the present samples.
• The measured EKα and EKβ have been compared with only theoretical predictions.

The paper presents the first measurements of the Kα and Kβ excitation factors for some selected elements from Y to Te. To determine the Kα and Kβ excitation factors, the experimental values of K shell X-ray production cross sections and total absorption photoelectric cross sections were used. The measurements were performed using a Si(Li) detector coupled with 2048 multichannel analyzer and an Am-241 annular radioisotope source which is emitted 59.54 keV γ-photons. It is observed that the Kα excitation factors are 5–6 times larger than the Kβ excitation factors. The measured excitation factors were compared only with theoretical calculated ones since there are no other experimental reports for the present elements in the literature. The present experimental values of Kα and Kβ excitation factors are in satisfactory agreement with the theoretical results.