Quantitative analysis of lithium in Al-Li alloys by ionization energy loss spectroscopy

Abstract
A quantitative analysis of lithium in Al-Li alloys has been carried out by ionization energy loss spectroscopy. It has been found that the power law I = A E−R gives the best fit to the background immediately preceding the Li-K edge, and that the optimum value of the spectrometer acceptance semi-angle β is about 2 mrad. The Al:Li ratio on the δ′ (Al3Li) phase was determined to be 3·60±0·64. The spread of experimental data can be accounted for by errors introduced by the background-subtraction procedure, and uncertainties in the ionization cross-section values. The value of the minimum detectable mass fraction of Li in Al is estimated to be approximately 10·3 at.% (2·7wt.%).