ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY UPDATE - X-RAY-FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETRY

The current work continues the annual series of reviews of progress in X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and covers work published during 1997 -98, The papers referred to in this review are the ones that in the ju dgement of the authors made a significant contribution to the advancem ent of XRF, The style and scope ape very similar to earlier reviews in the series (for example, ref, 1), with a comprehensive coverage of al l aspects of XRF, There continue to be important developments in the f ield, notable amongst which are the very high resolution energy disper sive detector devices, specifically microcalorimeter and superconducti ng tunnel junction devices. indeed, there is continuing interest in de velopments in a wide range off solid state detector devices, although mercury(n) iodide is the only detector material yet to challenge Si(Li ) or HPGe in some applications. Interest in matrix correction procedur es continues to be buoyant, although this year has seen a temporary hi atus in fundamental parameter publications. Laboratory microfluorescen ce has become well established, not the least because of the availabil ity of commercial instrumentation, some of which incorporates glass ca pillary optics. Investment in synchrotron radiation facilities continu es to be strong, ensuring a continuing stream of research publications , One of the significant trends over the last year has been the large number of TXRF contributions, which cover a large proportion of the tr aditional XRF areas of application. Equally, there continues to be str ong interest in portable XRF, particularly in environmental applicatio ns-an area that sorely still has not reached its zenith. In the field of general applications of the technique, there continues to be strong interest in developments in the environmental, industrial;clinical an d biological areas. This was another vigorous year in the development of XRF, some of the more important features of which are highlighted i n this review.