A quantitative study of monochromatic X-ray transmission through zinc wires

X-ray transmission through zinc wires of various diameters has been investigated systematically at different beam energies and sample-to-detector distances at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. This analysis shows that the experimentally measured transmission differs significantly from the theoretical estimation unless an appropriate point-spread function/line-spread function (PSF/LSF) is incorporated in the analysis. A number of other possible factors which may contribute to the observed inconsistencies were also assessed and these factors included higher harmonics and fluorescence; however, it was determined that these were not the dominant contributors underlying the inconsistencies. The investigation has demonstrated that the PSF/LSF is a major factor for consideration in quantitative X-ray micro-computed tomography.