Reference-free measurement of photon emission intensities in the decay of standard radionuclides
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: : Reliable X-ray emission intensities are essential for quantitative material analysis using X-ray spectrometry and for the efficiency calibration of energy-dispersive spectrometers. In order to improve the reliability of data, reference-free measurements were performed to determine X-ray emission intensities, along with their associated uncertainties, for a set of standard radionuclides in the energy range from 5.4 keV to 53.13 keV. Partial K X-ray emission intensities were determined for nine radionuclides, resulting in total K emission intensities, I XK , of 24.06(49)% for 54 Mn, 27.59(48)% for 55 Fe, 55.8(10)% for 57 Co, 37.4(9)% for 65 Zn, 60.0(7)% for 85 Sr, 59.0(7)% for 88 Y, 100.5(15)% for 109 Cd, 117.3(7)% for 133 Ba and 77.7(6)% for 139 Ce. In addition, γ-ray emission intensities were measured as 8.77(12)% for the 14.41 keV transition of 57 Co and 2.199(29)% for the 53.16 keV transition of 133 Ba. The results are in good agreement with existing data, although some differences were observed for a few radionuclides. The relative standard uncertainty for the I XK value of 133 Ba has been improved to 0.6% compared to previous studies. For all investigated radionuclides, a fully traceable and reliable uncertainty budget has been provided.
Source: Applied Radiation and Isotopes
Language: English
Subfield: Radiation
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,220
Funder: Centro de Ecológia Aplicada
OpenAlex ID: W4413959939