A universal equation for the emission range of x rays from bulk specimens.

The derivation of a universal equation to compute the range of emitted X rays is presented for homogeneous bulk materials. This equation is based on two fundamental assumptions: the varphi(rhoz) curve of X-ray generation is constant and the ratio of the emitted to the generated X-ray range is equal to the ratio of the emitted to the generated X-ray intensity. An excellent agreement is observed with data obtained from Monte Carlo simulations of 200,000 electron trajectories in C, Al, Cu, Ag, Au, and an Fe-B alloy with boron weight fractions equal to 0.01, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, and 0.99, performed with the electron beam energy varied from 1 to 30 keV in 1-keV steps. When the ratio of the generated X-ray range to the photon mean free path is much smaller than one, the emission X-ray range is equal to the generated X-ray range, but when this ratio is much greater than one, the emission X-ray range is constant and is given by the product of the effective photon mean free path multiplied by the sine of the take-off angle.