APPENDIX A

Strongest characteristic X-ray line energies (keV)

Data below are taken from Tables of Physical & Chemical Constants (16th edition 1995). 4.2.1 X-ray absorption
edges, characteristic X-ray lines and fluorescence yields. Kaye & Laby Online. Version 1.0 (2005)
www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk

Atomic KM KMII KLIII KLII LINIII LIMIII LIMII LIINIV LIIMIV LIIINV LIIIMV LIIIMIV LIIIMI
III
number
and
Kβ1 Kβ3 Kα1 Kα2 Lγ3 Lβ3 Lβ4 Lγ1 Lβ1 Lβ2 Lα1 Lα2 Ll
element
Intensity ~20 ~10 100 50–53 ~5 50–35 20 ~5 ~50 ~5 ~90 10 20–5

11 Na 1.071 1.041
12 Mg 1.302 1.253
13 Al 1.557 1.487 1.486
14 Si 1.836 1.740 1.739
15 P 2.139 2.014 2.013
16 S 2.464 2.308 2.307
17 Cl 2.816 2.622 2.620
18 Ar 3.190 2.958 2.956
19 K 3.590 3.314 3.311
20 Ca 4.013 3.692 3.688
21 Sc 4.461 4.090 4.086 0.400 0.395 0.348
22 Ti 4.932 4.511 4.505 0.458 0.452 0.395
23 V 5.427 4.952 4.944 0.585 0.519 0.511 0.446
24 Cr 5.947 5.415 5.405 0.654 0.583 0.573 0.500
25 Mn 6.490 5.899 5.888 0.721 0.649 0.637 0.556
26 Fe 7.058 6.404 6.391 0.792 0.719 0.705 0.615
27 Co 7.649 6.930 6.915 0.870 0.791 0.776 0.678
28 Ni 8.265 7.478 7.461 0.941 0.869 0.852 0.743
29 Cu 8.905 8.903 8.048 8.028 1.023 1.019 0.950 0.930 0.811
30 Zn 9.572 9.567 8.639 8.616 1.107 1.102 1.035 1.012 0.884
31 Ga 10.271 10.261 9.252 9.231 1.197 1.191 1.125 1.098 0.957
32 Ge 10.983 10.978 9.887 9.856 1.294 1.289 1.218 1.188 1.036
33 As 11.727 11.721 10.544 10.509 1.386 1.380 1.316 1.282 1.120
34 Se 12.496 12.489 11.222 11.181 1.492 1.485 1.419 1.379 1.204
35 Br 13.292 13.285 11.924 11.878 1.600 1.593 1.523 1.480 1.294
36 Kr 14.113 14.105 12.650 12.598 1.706 1.698 1.637 1.586 1.386
37 Rb 14.962 14.952 13.396 13.336 2.0512 1.827 1.817 1.752 1.694 1.692 1.482
38 Sr 15.836 15.826 14.166 14.098 2.1972 1.947 1.937 1.872 1.806 1.804 1.582
39 Y 16.737 16.725 14.958 14.882 2.3472 2.072 2.060 1.996 1.923 1.920 1.685
40 Zr 17.662 17.649 15.770 15.692 2.5032 2.200 2.187 2.292 2.118 2.215 2.043 2.040 1.792
41 Nb 18.623 18.606 16.615 16.521 2.6602 2.336 2.319 2.449 2.257 2.357 2.166 2.163 1.902
42 Mo 19.608 19.590 17.479 17.374 2.8252 2.473 2.455 2.611 2.396 2.508 2.295 2.291 2.016
43 Tc 20.619 20.599 18.367 18.251 3.0012 2.618 2.598 2.778 2.537 2.664 2.424 2.421 2.131
44 Ru 21.656 21.637 19.279 19.150 3.1792 2.763 2.744 2.952 2.683 2.825 2.556 2.554 2.253
45 Rh 22.723 22.698 20.216 20.073 3.3652 2.915 2.890 3.132 2.835 2.992 2.698 2.692 2.377
46 Pd 23.819 23.792 21.178 21.021 3.557 3.073 3.046 3.318 2.990 3.163 2.838 2.833 2.503
47 Ag 24.943 24.912 22.163 21.991 3.754 3.234 3.203 3.511 3.151 3.342 2.985 2.979 2.634
 Kβ1 Kβ3 Kα1 Kα2 Lγ3 Lβ3 Lβ4 Lγ1 Lβ1 Lβ2 Lα1 Lα2 Ll
Intensity ~20 ~10 100 53–65 ~5 35–20 20 5–25 100 5–20 ~90 10 20–5
48 Cd 26.095 26.061 23.173 22.985 3.960 3.402 3.368 3.710 3.319 3.525 3.134 3.131 2.767
49 In 27.275 27.237 24.209 24.002 4.169 3.572 3.534 3.915 3.487 3.712 3.288 3.280 2.905
50 Sn 28.491 28.439 25.272 25.044 4.377 3.750 3.703 4.127 3.661 3.903 3.442 3.433 3.045
51 Sb 29.725 29.677 26.359 26.110 4.609 3.932 3.884 4.345 3.843 4.101 3.604 3.594 3.189
52 Te 30.995 30.944 27.472 27.201 4.837 4.120 4.069 4.568 4.030 4.302 3.770 3.759 3.336
53 I 32.295 32.239 28.612 28.317 5.072 4.313 4.257 4.799 4.221 4.509 3.938 3.926 3.485
54 Xe 33.625 33.562 29.779 29.459 5.319 4.516 4.453 5.035 4.415 4.720 4.110 4.095 3.625
55 Cs 34.985 34.918 30.973 30.625 5.567 4.719 4.652 5.278 4.619 4.936 4.289 4.271 3.795
56 Ba 36.378 36.303 32.194 31.817 5.820 4.928 4.853 5.529 4.827 5.158 4.470 4.450 3.954
57 La 37.802 37.721 33.442 33.034 6.080 5.143 5.062 5.786 5.037 5.385 4.651 4.629 4.122
58 Ce 39.258 39.170 34.720 34.279 6.349 5.364 5.276 6.051 5.261 5.617 4.839 4.820 4.289
59 Pr 40.748 40.653 36.026 35.550 6.622 5.592 5.497 6.321 5.485 5.853 5.034 5.009 4.455
60 Nd 42.272 42.166 37.361 36.847 6.902 5.829 5.723 6.597 5.722 6.091 5.231 5.208 4.633
61 Pm 43.825 43.713 38.725 38.171 7.193 6.071 5.959 6.880 5.962 6.334 5.433 5.408 4.785
62 Sm 45.413 45.289 40.118 39.523 7.490 6.319 6.195 7.169 6.205 6.582 5.635 5.610 4.995
63 Eu 47.036 46.902 41.542 40.902 7.794 6.574 6.440 7.467 6.455 6.835 5.843 5.815 5.177
64 Gd 48.696 48.554 42.996 42.309 8.100 6.832 6.690 7.772 6.713 7.034 6.058 6.026 5.362
65 Tb 50.382 50.228 44.481 43.744 8.423 7.096 6.942 8.086 6.976 7.358 6.273 6.239 5.547
66 Dy 52.119 51.956 45.999 45.208 8.743 7.371 7.208 8.409 7.249 7.627 6.496 6.458 5.743
67 Ho 53.878 53.707 47.547 46.699 9.080 7.650 7.479 8.740 7.529 7.901 6.719 6.681 5.944
68 Er 55.681 55.491 49.128 48.221 9.425 7.942 7.752 9.078 7.813 8.180 6.951 6.906 6.153
69 Tm 57.513 57.303 50.742 49.773 9.782 8.236 8.026 9.426 8.103 8.465 7.181 7.134 6.342
70 Yb 59.374 59.157 52.389 51.354 10.148 8.531 8.314 9.781 8.402 8.755 7.415 7.367 6.546
71 Lu 61.286 61.049 54.070 52.965 10.518 8.844 8.607 10.144 8.709 9.049 7.655 7.604 6.753
72 Hf 63.236 62.979 55.790 54.611 10.890 9.153 8.896 10.517 9.016 9.348 7.891 7.837 6.960
73 Ta 65.221 64.946 57.533 56.277 11.278 9.488 9.213 10.894 9.345 9.649 8.147 8.089 7.173
74 W 67.244 66.951 59.318 57.982 11.675 9.819 9.526 11.284 9.671 9.959 8.396 8.335 7.388
75 Re 69.309 68.994 61.140 59.718 12.082 10.161 9.846 11.682 10.006 10.273 8.651 8.584 7.604
76 Os 71.416 71.077 63.001 61.487 12.503 10.515 10.176 12.092 10.349 10.592 8.905 8.835 7.822
77 Ir 73.560 73.203 64.896 63.287 12.925 10.865 10.508 12.514 10.705 10.919 9.175 9.096 8.046
78 Pt 75.751 75.364 66.832 65.123 13.363 11.231 10.844 12.944 11.073 11.251 9.439 9.364 8.271
79 Au 77.985 77.580 68.804 66.990 13.806 11.609 11.204 13.383 11.432 11.585 9.705 9.618 8.494
80 Hg 80.261 79.822 70.819 68.894 14.258 11.987 11.548 13.834 11.823 11.927 9.999 9.898 8.722
81 Tl 82.575 82.384 72.872 70.832 14.736 13.387 12.196 14.293 12.217 12.272 10.271 10.117 8.953
82 Pb 84.936 84.450 74.969 72.804 15.222 12.791 12.305 14.769 12.618 12.625 10.555 10.453 9.185
83 Bi 87.354 86.831 77.118 74.815 15.717 13.205 12.682 15.261 13.031 12.981 10.836 10.728 9.421
84 Po 89.801 89.250 79.301 76.863 16.230 13.628 13.077 15.756 13.452 13.342 11.131 11.014 9.664
85 At 92.302 91.722 81.523 78.943 16.748 14.067 13.487 16.262 13.882 13.708 11.427 11.302 9.858
86 Rn 94.866 94.246 83.793 81.065 17.262 14.511 13.891 16.777 14.323 14.079 11.727 11.595 10.085
87 Fr 97.477 96.807 86.114 83.231 17.805 14.976 14.306 17.307 14.775 14.456 12.031 11.892 10.340
88 Ra 100.130 99.432 88.476 85.434 18.352 15.443 14.745 17.848 15.238 14.839 12.340 12.196 10.622
89 Ac 102.846 102.101 90.884 87.675 18.922 15.931 15.186 18.402 15.711 15.227 12.652 12.502 10.835
90 Th 105.611 104.831 93.358 89.952 19.498 16.419 15.639 18.993 16.215 15.622 12.970 12.809 11.119
91 Pa 108.435 107.606 95.883 92.287 20.095 16.924 16.095 19.581 16.715 16.022 13.300 13.119 11.366
92 U 111.303 110.424 98.440 94.659 20.712 17.454 16.575 20.167 17.219 16.429 13.614 13.438 11.619
93 Np 114.243 113.312 101.068 97.077 21.340 17.992 17.061 20.785 17.751 16.840 13.944 13.760 11.890
94 Pu 117.261 116.277 103.761 99.552 21.982 18.540 17.556 21.417 18.293 17.256 14.279 14.084 12.124
 Kβ1 Kβ3 Kα1 Kα2 Lγ3 Lβ3 Lβ4 Lγ1 Lβ1 Lβ2 Lα1 Lα2 Ll
Intensity ~20 ~10 100 53–65 ~5 35–20 20 5–25 100 5–20 ~90 10 20–5
95 Am 120.360 119.317 106.523 102.083 22.637 19.106 18.063 22.065 18.852 17.676 14.617 14.412 12.384
96 Cm 123.423 122.325 109.290 104.441 23.306 19.663 18.565 19.552 14.959 14.703
97 Bk 126.663 125.443 112.138 107.205 24.040 20.348 19.128 20.019 15.320 15.086
98 Cf 130.851 129.601 116.030 110.710 24.831 21.001 19.751 20.763 15.677 15.443
99 Es 134.238 132.916 119.080 113.470 25.579 21.648 20.326 21.390 16.036 15.780
100 Fm 137.693 136.347 122.190 116.280 26.334 22.303 20.957 22.044 16.402 16.134
101Md 141.234 139.761 125.390 119.170 27.120 22.984 21.511 22.707 16.768 16.487
102 No 144.852 143.295 128.660 122.100 27.932 23.692 22.135 23.403 17.139 16.843
103 Lw 148.670 146.920 132.020 125.100 28.760 24.530 22.780 24.130 17.500 17.210

Approximate K and L line intensities are given at the head of the columns in the table, relative to the line
in the series which is normally the strongest. The values given are based on the compilation of
experimental relative intensities of Salem, Panossian and Krause and the intensities calculated by
Scofield (Salem et al., pp. 121–37).

Unresolved lines:
1—KNII,III (Kβ2); 2—L1NII,III (Lγ2,3)
Depending on the resolving power of the dispersing system used (e.g. crystal spectrometer, solid state
energy dispersive detector) line pairs shown separately in the table may not be resolved and the effective
energy of the doublet will be close to the mean value weighted by the relative intensity of the
components.

References
Bearden (1967) Rev. Mod. Phys., 39(1), 78.
Clark (1963) Encyclopaedia of X-rays and Gamma Rays, Reinhold.
Dewey, Mapes and Reynolds (1969) Progress in Nuclear Energy, Series IX, Analytical Chemistry, Elion and
Stewart (eds), Pergamon.
Krause (1979) J. Physical and Chemical Reference Data, 8, 307–27.
Mitchell and Barfoot (1981) Nuclear Science Applications, 1, 99.
Robinson (ed.) (1974) Handbook of Spectroscopy, Vol. 1, p. 228, CRC Press, Cleveland.
Salem, Panossian and Krause (1974) Atomic and Nuclear Data Tables 1A, 91–109.
Sandström (1957) Handbuch der Physik, Vol. XXX, X-rays, Springer-Verlag.
Singh et al. (1990) Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, B51, 5.