Using a Philips MiniPal energy-dispersive instrument we measured two sets of brass and stainless-steel standard reference materials (SRMs) provided by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The spectra of 11 brass SRMs and 19 stainless-steel SRMs were measured during a 600 s live time. The intensities of the Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Fe and Sn lines were calculated for brass and of the Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Mo lines for stainless steel. The regression equations for each element using a De Jongh model and giving the lowest value of the relative standard deviation (RSD) were determined. In most cases it was necessary to use two correction factors for the minimization of the RSD. For comparison, measurements of all samples and elements using a Philips PW 1480 wavelength-dispersive spectrometer were also performed. Differences in the RSD values obtained using the two spectrometers were not significant for the main elements, Cu and Zn in brass and Cr, Fe and Ni in stainless steel. For minor elements, the RSD values were 2-6 times larger for the MiniPal instrument and were poor for Sn and Co. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
