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An accurate determination of the K‐shell X‐ray fluorescence yield of silicon
Author(s) -
Hopman T. L.,
Heirwegh C. M.,
Campbell J. L.,
Krumrey M.,
Scholze F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/xrs.2378
Subject(s) - yield (engineering) , fluorescence , silicon , electron shell , x ray fluorescence , chemistry , shell (structure) , x ray , atomic physics , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , physics , thermodynamics , optics , ion , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , ionization
A measurement of the K‐shell fluorescence yield of silicon is undertaken in which identified sources of systematic errors in previous measurements are reduced or eliminated. This enables a stringent test of the only two sets of theoretical predictions available for atomic numbers less than 18. Our result ω K = 0.0495 ± 0.0015 is very slightly lower than the non‐relativistic Hartree‐Fock‐Slater (HFS) prediction of 0.0514. This stringent test of the HFS predictions helps to refine the fundamental parameter database of the X‐ray fluorescence analysis technique, whose importance for light elements is increasing. Our work indicates the need for new theoretical calculations of K‐shell fluorescence yields for these elements. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.