Construction and calibration of a low cost X-ray Fluorescence apparatus for compositional analysis of materials

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) is a useful tool for determining elemental composition of materials. This work involves constructing a fluorescence apparatus using an Eclipse III Tube 30 keV Source with a current of 0-100 $\mu $A and a XR-100CR X-ray detector with DP4 Preamplifier and MCA. The apparatus was constructed from independent components, interfaced for automated data acquisition, calibrated and used to examine a variety of different materials. The characteristic x-rays produced by each element in a sample allow the XRF system to determine the composition along with the percent of each element through the use of a modeling software, XRF-FP. For calibration, known samples (both pure metals and alloys ) were analyzed. A sharp boundary sample was used for spot area calibration. Calibration was followed by the analysis (still ongoing) of zeolite mineral samples of unknown trace-element composition from fifteen sites in the Big Bend area.