Compact Polycapillary-Based Microbeam X-Ray Fluorecence Analysis System for Remote Monitoring of Metal Contamination

60740 Conventional X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis, used in DOE environmental management operations, is usually performed off-site and cannot provide sufficient detection sensitivity for certain types of materials. In-situ applications are difficult because such systems are bulky, heavy-weight, power-consuming, and difficult to maintain. This project will develop a prototype polycapillary-based microbeam XRF (MXRF) sensor system for the remote monitoring of hazardous materials at DOE sites. The use of a polycapillary focusing optic will significantly increase the X-ray beam intensity and therefore the detection sensitivity of the system. In Phase I, a polycapillary focusing optic was coupled with a low-powered microfocus x-ray source to generate an x-ray beam of 30 ¿m, yielding a flux density more than three orders of magnitude higher than that obtained with a pinhole collimator. Various types of samples were analyzed using a polycapillary-based MXRF setup. Significant improvement in detection sensitivity was achieved on air particulate and water samples. In Phase II, a prototype polycapillary-based MXRF system will be designed and built. System performance will be evaluated by examining various samples. The MXRF sensor will be combined with a dedicated sample handling system to build a compact remote air monitoring system. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The proposed system could be used for ex-situ and in-situ analysis and remote monitoring of hazardous materials in air, ground water, and soils at DOE sites. It could also be used in quality control and process monitoring on production lines in the semiconductor and microelectronics industries. Other possible application areas include ceramics, forensics, biology, and medicine.