Quantitative calibration of intense (α, α) elastic scattering resonances for 12C at 5.50–5.80 MeV and for 16O at 7.30–7.65 MeV

Extremely strong (α, α) elastic scattering resonances — more than 100 times the Rutherford value — occur in 16O at 7.35–7.65 keV and in 12C at 5.50–5.80 MeV, thus allowing the normal RBS technique to be extended to low-Z components, such as oxygen and carbon. Both resonances have been calibrated over the appropriate 300 keV energy regime with an overall accuracy of ±4%. Some recent examples of their use in profiling oxygen and carbon in various substrates are given.