Quantitative biological X-ray microanalysis of bulk specimens: an analysis of inaccuracies involved in ZAF-correction

In this paper the need for a biological approach to ZAF-correction is elucidated. Programming details are given for the compostion of a ZAF-correction program, specifically designed for biological specimens. BIOFLEX was written and set up as a working program to investigate two specific inaccuracies involved in quantitative X-ray microanalysis of biological bulk specimens: These are the poorly known composition of the organic matrix of the specimen as well as the poorly known specimen-beam spectrometer geometry. The outcome of our calculations, which is based on hypothetical (but representative) data, indicates that the organic matrix composition should be specified in elemental miss fractions. Moreover it was found that a poorly known geometry will give errors in concentrations of about 1 - 2%.