Total-reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) intensity profiles of Au L and M lines for two different chemical surrounding, i.e. metallic gold from sputtering as Au(0) and gold chloride as a deposition of Au(3+) standard solution in hydrochloride medium, show strong intensity differences out of the statistical fluctuations. These experimental observations could be explained considering the effect of the crystalline field on the gold electronic structure due to the different metallic Au(0) and chloride Au(3+) chemical surrounding. This is the first time where TXRF have shown to be sensitive to variations of the transition rate probabilities of L and M lines but not to the energy shifts by lack of energy resolution. An experiment was designed to evaluate the analytical influence of the observed chemical surrounding effect in the quantitative deconvolution processes of Au by TXRF. Results show that the main analytical parameters; recovery, uncertainty and detection limits, are not affected and only the statistical Chi parameter varies significatively assuring the validity of the TXRF quantitative results.

A micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) spectrometry instrument based on an assembled X-ray optics was constructed in the laboratory. The assembled X-ray optics consisted of a polycapillary slightly focusing X-ray lens and a tapered monocapillary X-ray lens (TMXRL). The output X-ray beam of the polycapillary slightly focusing X-ray lens was focused again by the TMXRL. A TMXRL with output aperture of 12.01 μm was drawn by a nested glass tube. To evaluate the performance of the instrument, a performance comparison between different capillary X-ray optics was conducted. The intensity of the Fe Kα from an iron plate was used to indicate the analysis efficiency of the μ-XRF instrument. The relative gain of the instrument was corrected by comparing the intensity per unit area for a pinhole aperture. Compared with TMXRL single used, the assembled X-ray optics also had a micro focal spot. Furthermore, the relative gain of the assembled X-ray optics and the intensity of the Fe Kα from the iron plate obtained by the assembled X-ray optics were approximately 5 times those of the TMXRL single used. This highly intense micro X-ray beam with several diameters obtained by the assembled X-ray optics will be useful for μ-XRF analysis.

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) based on femtosecond laser pulses has widely been used for analyzing chemical elements in samples. In this research, we achieved the double-pulse operation with a two-polarizer configuration, and the signal enhancement factor of 4–15 was observed as compared with the single pulse LIBS scheme. It is found that with the change in interpulse delay time between 0 and 150 ps, the laser-fluence dependence of the LIBS signal enhancement can be classified into three types that are characterized by the different behavior of linear and quadratic intensity increase, followed by the intensity saturation. Such different responses are presumably ascribable to the mechanisms of electron-ion relaxation and plasma reheating. Also, different behavior is seen for the signal enhancement with different laser intensity and beam diameter while the laser fluence is kept constant. This indicates that generally, the use of a larger beam diameter is recommended for increasing the signal enhancement factor.

Continuing previous works on the dynamics of carbon plasmas generated by excimer laser ablation in vacuum, we report here a new study using Ar as background gas. The increased collision rate allows extended (both spatially and temporally) investigations of the low-emitting axial region of the unusual V-shape transient plasma evidenced in our previous works. The systematic study performed here by fast-gate intensified CCD photography and space- and time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy led to an extensive database, especially on the evolution of C, Ar and C-dimer (monitored through the Swan bands). The enhancement of the dimer formation (which has an important role in carbon plasma chemistry) in the lateral structures is confirmed and even amplified by the use of background gas. Furthermore, temperature and electron density values have been estimated from the spectroscopic data, providing additional proofs for the validity of the plasma dynamics scenario built for this unusual plume shape.