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XRF Theory

Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectroscopy is a simple, accurate, and cost-effective method to determine the chemical composition of materials. It is non-destructive and requires little sample preparation. EDXRF can measure elements from sodium to uranium at low to high concentrations. It works by using X-rays to eject inner orbital electrons, causing higher electrons to fill in and emit fluorescent X-rays of characteristic energies that identify elements present. The intensity of peaks at these energies then allows quantification of elemental concentrations in the sample.

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230 views1 page

XRF Theory

Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectroscopy is a simple, accurate, and cost-effective method to determine the chemical composition of materials. It is non-destructive and requires little sample preparation. EDXRF can measure elements from sodium to uranium at low to high concentrations. It works by using X-rays to eject inner orbital electrons, causing higher electrons to fill in and emit fluorescent X-rays of characteristic energies that identify elements present. The intensity of peaks at these energies then allows quantification of elemental concentrations in the sample.

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Ja Phe Ti
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XRF Theory

Elemental Analysis by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF)

Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectroscopy provides one of the simplest, most
accurate and most economic elemental analytical methods for the determination of the chemical
and/or elemental composition of many types of materials. The technique is generally non-
destructive, requiring little if any sample preparation, and is suitable for almost all sample types. X-
ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometric analysis can be employed to measure a wide range of atomic
elements, from sodium (11) through uranium (92), while providing elemental detection limits from low
parts-per-million (ppm) to high weight percent (%wt). In addition to elemental analysis, EDXRF
spectrometers may be used to measure the thickness and composition of multi-layer thin films.

In X-ray fluorescence (XRF), an electron can be ejected from its atomic orbital by the absorption of a
light wave (photon) of sufficient energy. The energy of the photon (hν) must be greater than the
energy with which the electron is bound to the nucleus of the atom. When an inner orbital electron is
ejected from an atom (middle image), an electron from a higher energy level orbital will be
transferred to the lower energy level orbital. During this transition a photon maybe emitted from the
atom (bottom image). This fluorescent light is called the characteristic X-ray of the element. The
energy of the emitted photon will be equal to the difference in energies between the two orbitals
occupied by the electron making the transition. Because the energy difference between two specific
orbital shells, in a given element, is always the same (i.e. characteristic of a particular element), the
photon emitted when an electron moves between these two levels, will always have the same
energy. Therefore, by determining the energy (wavelength) of the X-ray light (photon) emitted by a
particular element, it is possible to determine the identity of that element.

For a particular energy (wavelength) of fluorescent light emitted by an element, the number of
photons per unit time (generally referred to as peak intensity or count rate) is related to the amount
of that analyte in the sample. In EDXRF spectroscopy, the counting rates for all detectable elements
within a sample are usually calculated by counting, for a set amount of time, the number of photons
that are detected for the various analytes' characteristic X-ray energy lines. It is important to note
that these fluorescent lines are actually observed as peaks with a semi-Gaussian distribution
because of the imperfect resolution of modern detector technology. Therefore, by determining the
energy of the X-ray peaks in a sample's spectrum, and by calculating the count rate of the various
elemental peaks, it is possible to qualitatively establish the elemental composition of the samples
and to quantitatively measure the concentration of these elements.

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