Application of “abnormal” X-ray yields from primary targets of compounds in XSQR studies with proton and alpha particle beams

Abstract

Previous reports on “abnormal” yields from charge induced X-ray studies (CHIX) have demonstrated conclusively that such yields are exceptionally high when compared to PIXE at low incident particle energies. A combination of low incident energies and high X-ray yields could be useful for XSQR investigations with low energy accelerators, particularly in studies where the sample matrix “swamps” the signals from the impurities of interest such as chromium in steels (overwhelming Fe peak) and Cu in brass (high Zn peak). This work discusses the possible applications of CHIX to XSQR studies with primary targets of compressed powders of selected compounds under bombardment with 3000 keV alphas and 800 and 1000 keV protons. A feature of interest in the use of comparatively low beam currents (between 100–150 nA) in the absence of sample cooling. The advantages and limitations of the application are discussed.