Method of spectral background evaluation using higher energy peaks in x‐ray energy analysis

Abstract

A method for spectral background evaluation in x‐ray energy analysis is proposed, based on a simple model of background generation in the detector. This model assumes that photons, of a given energy, interacting with the detector have probabilities of generating background counts within lower energy windows. The usefulness of the method resides in the fact that it allows a background evaluation with different levels of complexity and accuracy. The method also permits accurate background calculation with samples of variable mass and composition, such as biological and environmental materials.

X-ray spectrometry

“…The unknown weight fractions for all the constituents, including those with low atomic numbers, are then calculated by using, as the standard library spectra of a linear-squares program, the Monte Carlo simulated Ag Ka peaks for each constituent and a background spectrum. Several authors (223,224) have applied both the Compton and Rayleigh peaks for the evaluation of the spectral background in ED X-ray spectra.…”