Determination of X-ray excitation spectra in micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry with capillary optics

The quantitative X-ray fluorescence microanalysis by fundamental parameters requires the knowledge of the energy distribution of the excitation beam. When this beam is produced by capillary optics, its high intensity and anisotropy complicate a direct determination. An alternative is an indirect determination based on measurement of induced X-ray fluorescence in a set of targets. In this work the X-ray excitation spectrum is determined by an iterative deconvolution process of the fundamental parameter expression for the X-ray fluorescence intensities. The method has the advantage that it does not require any assumption about the energy distribution of the X-ray source or the energy dependence of the lens transmission. Numerous XRF targets of pure elements with emission lines covering the full energy range of the X-ray source are employed. The only requirement on the targets is a high homogeneity in its composition. In fact, it does not impose any condition on the sample thickness. The accuracy observed in the validation process implemented with reference materials is similar to that reported with alternative approaches: 5% for main components, 10% for minor elements and 15% for trace elements.