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02.06.2020Publication of the article: 'Determination of Mass Attenuation Coefficients of Th, U, Np, and Pu for Oxygen Kα X-Rays Using an Electron Microprobe'
PhD Xavier Llovet, responsible of the Electron Microprobe Unit of the CCiTUB has published the article entitled "Determination of Mass Attenuation Coefficients of Th, U, Np, and Pu for Oxygen Kα X-Rays Using an Electron Microprobe" in the journal Microscopy and Microanalysis. The article, written in collaboration withDr. Philipp Pöml of the European Commission (Joint Research Centre, Karlsruhe, Germany) is available in open access format. The publication of this article has been selected in the section "Highlights from Microscopy and Microanalysis" by the journal "Microscopy Today" (May 2020 issue).
The summary of the article is:
Mass attenuation coefficients (MACs) of Th, U, Np, and Pu for oxygen X-rays have been experimentally determined using an electron microprobe. The MACs were obtained by measuring relative X-ray intensities emitted from ThO2, UO2, NpO2, and PuO2 targets, for incident electron energies from 5 to 30 keV, and processing them with the help of the computer program XMAC. The accuracy of the measured MACs is estimated to be better than 5%. Results are compared with MAC tabulations commonly used in electron probe microanalysis as well as with theoretical photoionization calculations. It is concluded that the MACs implemented in the Monte Carlo simulation program PENELOPE which are based on the photoionization cross-section calculations of Sabbatucci & Salvat [(2016). Theory and calculation of the atomic photoeffect. Rad Phys Chem121, 122–140], provide the best agreement with our measurements. The use of different MAC schemes for the analysis of mixed actinide oxide materials is discussed.
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