Determination of L-shell intensity ratios for Yb, Hf and Ta by a parameter refinement method

Transition rates for radiative decays to the L-shell were obtained for Yb, Hf and Ta by means of a method of experimental and atomic parameter refinement in x-ray fluorescence. An analytical function accounts for continuum and characteristic radiation detection artifacts are also included in the spectral description. The procedure of parameter refinement consists of minimizing quadratic differences between the experimental and predicted spectra through the optimization of the parameters involved in the analytical expression used. Spectra were acquired in an energy-dispersive system with synchrotron monochromatic beams. The results obtained for the sought transition rates are in agreement with the scarce values found in the literature. Copyright  2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.