Effect of Synchrotron Polarization in Grazing Incidence X-ray Fluorescence analysis

TL;DR

This paper investigates how synchrotron polarization affects spectral background reduction in grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence, enhancing detection sensitivity in TXRF analysis through theoretical modeling of scattering processes.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of the influence of synchrotron polarization on spectral background in TXRF, highlighting its significance for improving detection sensitivities.

Findings

Spectral background decreases with synchrotron polarization.

Anisotropic scattering depends on scattering and azimuthal angles.

Polarization effects can enhance TXRF detection limits.

Abstract

Total reflection x-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectroscopy has seen a remarkable progress over the past years. Numerous applications in basic and applied sciences prove its importance. The large spectral background which is a major detrimental factor in the conventional x-ray fluorescence technique, limits the element detection sensitivities of the technique to ppm range. This spectral background reduces to a great extent in the TXRF technique due to the low extinction depth of the primary incident x-ray beam. In synchrotron radiation (SR) based TXRF measurements the spectral background reduces further because of the polarization of the synchrotron x-ray beam. Here, we discuss in detail the influence of synchrotron polarization on the spectral background in a fluorescence spectrum and its significance towards TXRF detection sensitivities. We provide a detailed theoretical description and show that how anisotropic scattering probability densities of the Compton and Elastic scattered x-rays depend on the scattering angle ({\theta}) and azimuthal angle ({\phi}) in the polarization plane of the SR beam.