Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2019
While x-ray fluorescence spectrometry is a highly sensitive and highly repoducible method of analysing samples, its one weakness is its relatively low sensitivity for light elements. This is mainly due to two problems: firstly the low fluorescent yield of the low atomic number elements, and secondly to the inherent inefficiency of exciting these elements. While it is not possible to improve the fluorescent yield, considerable improvements in light element sensitivity can be achieved by improvements in x-ray tubes.