Applicability and limits of instrumental neutron activation analysis: State of the art in the year 2000

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) is considered an analytical methodology in its "mature" age, thoroughly studied and exploited and generally recognized as the "referee method" of choice when new procedures are being developed or when other methods yield inconsistent results. Nevertheless, until recently, its applicability was not possible in many cases and in many matrices where final sensitivity was affected and reduced by the limited performance of detectors and electronics. Very recently, a new generation of digital signal processing-based germanium gamma-ray spectrometers have provided unprecedented superior performance. This new technology allows dramatic improvements on the previous analogic electronic chains, giving a combination of high resolution, throughput, count rate stability and long-term stability of both resolution and peak shape. In applications involving high or widely varying count rates, the new systems allow the best resolution and peak stability, providing excellent gamma spectra for an accurate analysis of samples of different origin and composition. (C) 1998 Academic Press.