Measurement of L subshell photoionisation cross sections of Th and U at 22.6, 25.8, 29.2 and 32.9 kev

Bremsstrahlung from an X-ray tube was used to excite secondary targets of Ag, Sn, I and Ba to get nearly monochromatic excitation energies of 22.6, 25.8, 29.2 and 32.9 keV, respectively. Th and U were used as targets. The L X-ray fluorescence cross sections of different lines from the targets have been measured. Of the several methods to obtain L subshell photoionisation cross sections from these fluorescence data, the merits and demerits of four common methods have been explained and the method with least uncertainty was suggested as the best one for such analysis. Following this method, with intensities of the resolved Lγ lines, three L subshell photoionisation cross sections have been obtained using six different sets of atomic parameters. The variation of these cross sections with different atomic parameters has been discussed. For σ1, all the derived values are within 30% of one other while for σ2 and σ3, they are within 12%. Measured cross sections have been compared with the data of others and with the theoretical values of Scofield. Finally, the intensity ratios of different L lines have also been compared with available data and the theoretical values. Within experimental errors, our data are in good agreement with the data of others and with the theoretical predictions.