Quantification of energy dispersive SRXRF for the certification of reference materials at BAMline

Abstract

The certification of reference materials (CRMs) is one of the main tasks of the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing. In this context CRMs for analytical chemistry play the dominant role. Traditionally, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) has been excluded from the final certification scheme. It has lacked the proof to be reliable enough due to peak overlapping and risks of incorrect background subtraction leading to unacceptable uncertainty and bias of the results. The development described aims at enabling ED-SRXRF to really contribute to certification by the aid of synchrotron radiation. This has been partly shown for macrocontents and has been successfully demonstrated for trace elements and thin layers. The method is based on a combination of measurements of pure elements or stoichiometric compounds as comparator materials and Monte Carlo simulations. Measurements have been performed at the BAMline, the hard X-ray beam line of the BAM at the synchrotron BESSY II in Berlin.