Energy resolution for accurate measurements of the X-ray linear attenuation coefficient

摘要

At energies below 100 keV,measurements of the X-ray linear attenuation coefficient mu,require either a mono-energetic source or a detector with good energy resolution.The majority of X-ray sources contain a spread of energies whilst detectors have finite energy resolution.Beam hardening,arising from the preferential attenuation of lower energy X-rays,introduces systematic errors to mu measurements.These errors are examined for measurements with characteristic X-rays,and for poly-energetic sources in conjunction with energy dispersive detection.Industrial and medical applications are considered,at energies 5-110keV for biological materials,aluminium,iron and copper.