Why light elements are difficult to

measure with portable XRF

NEWS AND EVENTS

As we know, portable XRF technology works by bombarding samples with x-rays

and causing their atoms to fluoresce characteristic x-rays of the elements that they
contain. The energy of the fluorescent x-rays corresponds directly to the atomic
number of the element. Light elements have energy levels that are low enough that
they struggle to escape from the sample without being absorbed. For the fluorescent
x-rays that do escape the sample, some of them will not be able to penetrate the air
between the sample and the instrument to reach the detector.

For the light elements that have fluorescent x-rays that do reach the detector, these
need to be detected with enough significance to quantitatively estimate the element
concentration. To do this, there must be a recognisable peak within the background
noise for the element concentration to be calculated, and with the low energy light
elements this is a challenge.

So essentially, light elements are difficult to measure by portable XRF because their
fluorescence struggles to reach the instrument for it to calculate how much of that
element is present. This also explains why the lightest elements that the instruments
measure have higher detection limits, often 0.5-1%, because they need that higher
concentration to produce enough energy that can be recognised.

There have been certain recent improvements in portable XRF technology that
enable us to detect more of the light elements than we have previously, like Mg for
example. Think about what we have just said about why we cannot measure some of
the light elements, their signal is too weak to estimate their concentration. What if we
just apply more energy to boost the signal? That is what the introduction of the
detectors used in the current instruments has allowed. These SDD (silicon drift
detectors) allow for more energy in total to be received and measured by the
portable XRF, improving detection limits and the number of lighter elements that can
be measured.

Measuring light elements with pXRF has been topical in recent months due to the
recent boom in exploration for lithium around the world. No, lithium cannot be
measured with pXRF, but as discussed in last months article, there are plenty of
pathfinder elements that can.

And by the way, if anyone tells you portable XRF instruments cannot measure heavy
elements, like gold (Au), well, they most certainly can. They just might not be able to
measure them to the levels that you need. Its all about detection limits (and
heterogeneity), more on that next time.