Investigations of some XRF parameters and their analytical application in ecosystem restoration

Abstract

newline On bombarding an atom with energetic photons or by accelerated charged particles, vacancies are initiated in the inner shells. This vacancy establishment leads to excitation of an atom and the atom becomes unsteady. The average life time of the vacancies in the unstable atom is 10-12 sec and the atom becomes stable by radiative and non-radiative transformation. This decay process is recognized as de-excitation. X-ray photons are emitted in radiative transitions as vacancy formed in atomic levels is filled by the electron transition from the outer shells thereby radiating photon. The emitted photon imports energy, which is characteristic of atomic levels in-between which transition takes place. During the non-radiative transitions, in the interval of vacancy extinction the variance in level energies disturbs an exterior electron and blows it away and same termed as Auger Electron discharge. Auger emission and X-ray discharge contest each other. This mechanism of vacancy formation by photons and its decline with radiative emissions is recognized as X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) which connect numerous constraints/parameters like photo ionization cross section, fluorescence yield/CK yield, decay rate, X-ray production/emission/ cross section and vacancy alignment etc. The radiations so evolved are known as characteristic X- rays as they represent the characteristics of the involved atom