The global shortage of helium seems to be a recurring problem. For many applications, however, the user can still operate the instrument using nitrogen as purge gas — or even perform the analysis in air, with some compromises in analytical performance.
For high-performance analysis of light elements in the Na-Cl range in powder or liquid samples, the SPECTRO XEPOS C, P, HE or SPECTROCUBE C ED-XRF analyzers are suitable because of their higher sensitivity and lower detection limits due to the use of polarized excitation. Most other ED-XRF instruments use direct excitation with lower sensitivity, especially in this element range. Their performance would be closer to that of a SPECTRO XEPOS D, which also uses direct excitation for the analysis of these elements.
If helium is not available and liquid/powder samples are to be analyzed, the SPECTRO XEPOS C, P, HE and the SPECTROCUBE C can still provide good sensitivity for elements in the Mg-Cl range.
Register now to read this informative ED-XRF application note.