Handbook of practical X-ray fluorescence analysis

X-Ray ? uorescence analysis (XRF) has developed into a well-established multi-elemental analysis technique with a very wide ? eld of practical app- cations, especially those requiring nondestructive analytical methods. Over a long period of time, steady progress of XRF was made, both methodological and instrumental. Within the last decade, however, advancements in te- nology, software development, and methodologies for quanti? cation have p- vided an impetus to XRF research and application, leading to striking new improvements. The recent technological advances, including table-top inst- ments that take advantage of novel low-power micro-focus tubes, novel X-ray optics and detectors, as well as simpli? ed access to synchrotron radiation, have made it possible to extend XRF to low Z elements and to obtain t- and three-dimensional information from a sample on a micrometer-scale. The development of portable and hand-held devices has enabled a more ? exible use of XRF in a variety of new situations, such as archaeometry and process control. Furthermore, synchrotron radiation provides high excitation ? ux and even speciation capabilities due to energetically tunable radiation. Because of these recent advancements, the editors decided to compile a practicalhandbookofXRFasaresourceforscientistsandindustrialusersthat providesenoughinformationtoconceiveandsetupmodernXRFexperiments foruseinawiderangeofpracticalapplications. Additionally, selectedsections consist of a concise summary of background information for readers who wish to gain a more in-depth understanding of the topics without conducting a lengthy search of the literature. The present handbook is not intended to be a textbook with interdependent chapters, rather a reference in which the information in each sectionis largely self-contained.