TY - JOUR A1 - Rackwitz, Vanessa A1 - Ostermann, Markus A1 - Panne, Ulrich A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Performance of mu-XRF with SEM/EDS for trace analysis on the example of RoHS relevant elements - measurement, optimisation and predivtion of the detection limits N2 - For ten years µ-XRF (micro-focus X-ray fluorescence) analysis has been performed with SEM/EDS (scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive X-ray detector) so that non-destructive analysis of elements at trace level concentrations below 100 µg g-1 becomes possible. This can be considered as a valuable completion of the classical electron probe microanalysis by EDS, an analytical method 'suffering' from rather poor limits of detection in the range of one to two orders of magnitude higher than those of µ-XRF. Based on a representative actual application, namely analysis of RoHS relevant elements at trace concentration levels, the performance of the rather new analytical method with respect to its limits of detection is systematically evaluated. CRMs (certified reference materials) specially prepared to support the quantitative XRF analysis of RoHS relevant elements were employed. On the other side, based on calculations of µ-XRF spectra according to a recently developed physical model the optimization of the analytical performance is also successfully undertaken. KW - RoHS KW - XRF KW - muXRF KW - SEM/EDS KW - Detection limits KW - Trace elements KW - Modelling PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ja50064k SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 28 IS - 9 SP - 1466 EP - 1474 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-29045 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Radtke, Martin A1 - Vincze, L. A1 - Rackwitz, Vanessa A1 - Reuter, Dirk T1 - X-ray scattering in X-ray fluorescence spectra with X-ray tube excitation - Modelling, experiment, and Monte-Carlo simulation N2 - X-ray scattering may contribute significantly to the spectral background of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra. Based on metrological measurements carried out with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) having attached a well characterised X-ray source (polychromatic X-ray tube) and a calibrated energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) the accuracy of a physical model for X-ray scattering is systematically evaluated for representative samples. The knowledge of the X-ray spectrometer efficiency, but also of the spectrometer response functions makes it possible to define a physical spectral background of XRF spectra. Background subtraction relying on purely mathematical procedures is state-of-the-art. The results produced by the analytical model are at least as reliable as those obtained by Monte-Carlo simulations, even without considering the very challenging contribution of multiple scattering. Special attention has been paid to Compton broadening. Relevant applications of the implementation of the analytical model presented in this paper are the prediction of the limits of detection for particular cases or the determination of the transmission of X-ray polycapillary lenses. KW - X-ray scattering KW - X-ray fluorescence KW - Spectral background KW - Modelling KW - Monte-Carlo simulation PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2010.09.017 SN - 0168-583X SN - 1872-9584 VL - 268 IS - 24 SP - 3568 EP - 3575 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-22357 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Rackwitz, Vanessa T1 - Prediction of detection limits of micro X-ray fluorescence (muXRF) N2 - One permanent wish of any analyst should be the more accurate analysis of less and less amounts of substance. This may be even made coming true by technological developments of the Instrumentation as well as by a better understanding of the physical methods of analysis applied. Prediction and thus possible improvement of the limits of detection are both struggled analytical challenges. KW - X-ray scattering KW - Limits of detection KW - Peak-to-background KW - Peak-to-noise KW - XRF KW - Modelling PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927612006563 SN - 1431-9276 SN - 1435-8115 VL - 18 IS - Suppl. 2 SP - 942 EP - 943 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-26754 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -