title: Determination of yttrium in rare earths by photon activation analysis.
abstract: The determination of yttrium in the presence of large amounts of the rare earths by the thermal neutron reaction (89)Y(n, gamma)(90)Y is complicated because of frequent problems of sample self-shielding from major constituents of the sample, and the difficulty of separating (90)Y, a pure beta-emitter, from other elements which are very similar chemically. A non-destructive photon activation analysis method has been developed for this determination. Bremsstrahlung from a 35-muA beam of 35-MeV electrons induces the photonuclear reaction (89)Y(gamma, n)(88)Y. Optimum sensitivity is obtained by coincidence counting of the 0.90 and 1.84 MeV gamma-rays associated with the decay of (88)Y. The detection limit is less than 1 mug of yttrium.
authors.affiliation: Analytical Chemistry Division, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., 20234, U.S.A.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Lafleur