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arXiv · 2208.07795

The potential of microcalorimeter x-ray spectrometers for measurement of relative fluorescence-line intensities

J. W. Fowler·L. Miaja-Avila·G. C. O'Neil·J. N. Ullom·H. Whitelock·D. S. Swetz
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Abstract

We have previously used an array of cryogenic microcalorimeters with 4 eV energy resolution to measure emission-line profiles and energies of the characteristic L-shell x rays of four elements of the lanthanide series: praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, and holmium. We consider the power of the same data set for the estimation of the lines' relative intensities. Intensities must be corrected for detector efficiency and self-absorption, and we estimate uncertainties on the corrections. These data represent one of the first uses of cryogenic energy-dispersive sensors to estimate the relative intensities of x-ray fluorescence lines. They show that a future measurement of thin-film samples with microcalorimeter detectors could achieve systematic uncertainties below 1% on relative line intensities over a broad energy range.

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J. W. Fowler, L. Miaja-Avila, G. C. O'Neil, J. N. Ullom, H. Whitelock, D. S. Swetz. 2022-08-16. The potential of microcalorimeter x-ray spectrometers for measurement of relative fluorescence-line intensities. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2022.110487

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