Analysis of the effects of geometry on the fluorescence radiation field in the frame of transport theory

In x‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy, a photon beam is focused on the sample to stimulate the emission of characteristic radiation. Even if a qualitative interpretation of the measurements is simple, a quantitative analysis is not straightforward because the primary photons are produced deep in the target and the properties of the radiation that reaches the detector are modified significantly by the interactions undergone before leaving the specimen. Understanding how the emission spectra are influenced by interactions with matter is a central problem in fluorescence analysis. In this work, by using the 3D transport equation, we found that not only the composition of the specimen but also the geometry of the system plays an important role in determining the properties of the radiation field, denoting by geometry the shape of the target, the direction of the incoming beam and the observation angle. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.