PIGE analysis of magnesium and beryllium

In this work, we present an alternative method for PIGE analysis of magnesium and beryllium in thick samples. This method is based on the ERYA – Emitted Radiation Yield Analysis – code, which integrates the nuclear reaction excitation function along the depth of the sample. For this purpose, the excitations functions of the ²⁵Mg(p,p′γ)²⁵Mg (E_γ = 585 keV) and ⁹Be(p,γ)¹⁰B (E_γ = 718 keV) reactions were employed. Calculated gamma-ray yields were compared, at several proton energy values, with experimental yields for thick samples made of inorganic compounds containing magnesium or beryllium. The agreement is better than 5%. Taking into consideration the experimental uncertainty of the measured yields and the errors related to the stopping power values, this agreement shows that effects as the beam energy straggling, ignored in the calculation, seem to play a minor role.