ENHANCEMENT OF MICROBEAM X-RAY-FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS USING MONOLITHICPOLYCAPILLARY FOCUSING OPTICS

A monolithic polycapillary focusing optic was tested in the microbeam x-ray fluorescence system at the Oak Ridge Center for Manufacturing Te chnology. The optic was designed to cover a wide energy range from 4 k eV to 20 keV. The focal spot size of the output beam at 17.4 keV (Mo K alpha) was measured to be 21 mu m full width of half maximum. An aver age beam intensity of 1.5 x 10(5) photon/s/mu m(2) was obtained at the focus for Mo K alpha line using a 12 W microfocus x-ray source, This intensity is about 2400 times over that of a direct beam at 100 mm awa y from the x-ray source. The small, intense x-ray beam obtained was us ed to analyze and map the compositions of different elements in indust rial samples. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.