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Conventional quantitative electron probe microanalysis of actinides requires the use of reference standard samples. However, for such elements, standards are generally not available. To overcome this difficulty, standardless methods of analysis are used, in which the x-ray intensity emitted by the standard is calculated. To be reliable, such calculations require accurate knowledge of physical data such as the x-ray production cross section. However, experimental data of this quantity are not always available for actinide elements. In the present work, experimental L and M x-ray production cross sections were measured for elements uranium and lead. Measurements were performed with two electron microprobes using wavelength-dispersive spectrometers using thin self-supporting targets. Experimental results are compared with calculated cross sections obtained from different analytical formulae, and, whenever possible, with experimental data obtained from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Absolute L- and M-subshell x-ray production cross sections of Pb have been measured for incident electron energies ranging from 3 to 38 keV. The experimental cross sections were obtained by measuring La, Lß, Ma, Mß and M? x-ray intensities emitted from ultrathin Pb films deposited onto self-supporting thin C films. Measurements were performed on two electron microprobes using wavelength-dispersive spectrometers. X-ray intensities were converted into x-ray production cross sections by using estimated values of the number of incident electrons, target thickness and spectrometer efficiency. Experimental results are compared with calculated cross sections obtained using different predictive formulae, and, whenever possible, with experimental data from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]