X-ray fluorescence method for determining the thickness of an aluminum coating on steel

Abstract

543.422.8 We have used an EDX-720 energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer to develop a technique for determining the thickness of an aluminum coating deposited on steel 47 NKhR. We have calculated the mass absorption coefficients for absorption of the fluorescent emission of nickel by the aluminum coating, where nickel is a major component of the substrate material. We have established and present the metrological characteristics.Keywords: energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence method, coating thickness, interelement interference effects. Introduction.The nondestructive x-ray fluorescence method is widely used to determine the composition and thickness of deposited layers in microelectronics, the metal refining industry, data acquisition devices, and also corrosion-resistant coatings in metallurgy and the automobile industry. This method makes it possible to rapidly and highly accurately determine the thickness and composition of several stacked layers in the thickness range from nanometers to micrometers. In [1, 2], the authors demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the possibility of measuring the thickness of different single-component films and also a layer of silver electrolytically deposited on brass, as well as chromium, cobalt, nickel, and zinc foil. The authors of [1], as in [3], note that in order to measure the thickness of films (to 5 μm), it is necessary to use the dependence of the intensity of fluorescent x-radiation on its surface density.In determining the thickness of coatings made from copper, chromium, and nickel in the range ≤50 μm, the authors of [4] used the dependence of the fluorescence intensity of the above-indicated elements on the coating thickness without taking into account the background, which ultimately affected the accuracy of the analysis. The experimental data showed that x-ray fluorescence analysis (XFA) has an uncertainty (~10%) practically comparable with the uncertainty in x-ray spectral microanalysis. In [5], local sections of the surface were analyzed for samples of area 0.01-1.00 cm

Study on the Nondestructive Measurement of Aluminized Thickness Based on Radial Basis Function Neural Network by X-ray Fluorescence

“…Cao et al [12] carried out a theoretical analysis on the thickness measurement of thin layer by X-ray fluorescence absorption method and validated the correctness of relevant theories by using experimental data. Mashin et al [13] successfully measured the thickness of aluminum coating on steel by X-ray fluorescence. Trojek et al [14] measured the thickness of historical materials by X-ray fluorescence, and the results showed that the measured value was in good agreement with the actual value.…”