Present status of L-shell X-ray production cross sections by protons with energies below 1 MeV

The use of low energy protons to induce the emission of X-rays has found application in many laboratories. However, the calculation of L-shell ionization and X-ray production cross sections does not seem to be very accurate in the energy range below 1 MeV, according to the available experimental data set. In the present work, a discussion is presented on the status of the L-shell X-ray production cross sections, for proton energies below 1 MeV. An evaluation of experimental results, together with the predictions given by the ECPSSR theory using two computer codes for numerical calculations and other semiempirical expressions, is given. This shows the need for performing more experiments in this field, as well as for the refining of theoretical models.