Uncertainty budget for ion beam analysis

In the 'Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement' (GUM), guide lines for the evaluation of the total uncertainty of an experiment are outl ined in a manner to be adopted in all types of measurements. So far, this h as not Very strictly been implemented in the Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) commun ity. In this paper, the situation for a, to some extent, typical IBA measur ement is reviewed, and factors contributing to the total uncertainty are an alysed and discussed. Also the propagation of uncertainties is discussed. H ow the result of a measurement should be presented, with an appropriate cov erage factor resulting in a suitable interval for the uncertainty is also d iscussed. An example of an uncertainty budget for an analysis of quaternary bronzes is given as illustration. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.