Recent Advances in TXRF

Total reflection X‐ray fluorescence analysis (TXRF) is a special method of energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence analysis extending EDXRF to the ultra trace element level. The achievable detection limits depend on the excitation source and are in the range of picograms to femtograms. Only small amounts of sample are required and the quantification by adding one element as an internal standard is easy as thin film approximation is valid. In this article, the recent advances in TXRF are reviewed with over 80 references. The principles, advantages, instrumentation, improvements with X‐ray optics, synchrotron radiation as excitation sources as well as various fields of application, wafer surface analysis, depth profiling, absorption spectroscopy, medical samples, biological samples, environmental monitoring, archeological and polymer samples are described. Related techniques are also mentioned and discussed.