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A description of modifications in the variable energy cyclotron (VEC) Chandigarh along with the installation of Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) setup is presented. A new main magnet power supply of 400A/125V out put with ±10 ppm stability and a new stabilized solid state power supply for RF oscillator has improved the beam characteristics substantially. A new chamber has been designed to cater for Proton Induced Gamma Emission (PIGE) and Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS) along with PIXE measurements. The HPGe x-ray detector, the Ge(Li) γ-ray detector and a silicon surface barrier (SSB) detector can be mounted simultaneously in the chamber for this purpose. A Turbo-Molecular vacuum pump is provided to produce a clean vacuum of the order of 10-8 mbar in the PIXE chamber. A remotely controlled stepper motor is provided to move the wheel having 12/24-position target holder. Beam size optimization along with the minimization of background has been done with the help of graphite collimators, thus making the setup suitable for practical applications. Preliminary experiments for the PIXE analysis of aerosol, gunshot residues and kidney stone samples are presented.

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Particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique developed at Variable Energy Cyclotron, Panjab University Chandigarh has been used for the detection of trace elements in the aerosol samples collected from relatively clean and industrially polluted city in northern India. Aerosol samples were collected from Jammu City of Jammu and Kashmir State, which is supposed to have a clean environment and from Mandi-Gobindgarh, one of the most polluted steel city of Punjab. The results from the analysis of these samples show some basic differences in the trace element profile of the two cities. The results further suggest a long term aerosol sample analysis to segregate anthropogenic and natural sources of air pollution. The mean concentration levels of different trace elements in PM10 (Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm) from these two cities of northern India are compared with some of the prominent cities of India.

The scope of this study was to determine the concentration and composition of atmospheric particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM10) in the vicinity of coal-fired Ropar thermal power plant near Chandigarh, India. Two sampling sites, one inside the thermal plant and the other, outside the thermal plant were chosen. The elemental analysis was done using Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) technique. The elements detected at both the sites were common i.e. Si , S , Cl , K , Ca , Ti , Cr , Mn , Fe , Co , Ni , Cu and Zn however, their concentration vary at both the sampling sites. Also, Principal Component (PC) and Enrichment Factor (EF) analysis were done in order to identify the contributing elemental sources towards the particulate matter. Contributing sources to the elements were found not only the emission from the coal-fired thermal power plant but also from other activities like vehicular emissions, household cooking and natural soil dust etc.