A PIXE-PIGE setup for the analysis of thin samples

Boni, C.; Caridi, A.; Cereda, E.; Marcazzan, G.

doi:10.1016/0168-583x(90)90021-l

Cited by 32 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This is true, in particular, for PIXE [ Johansson and Campbell , 1988], which is sensitive to all the crustal elements but oxygen and carbon. However, the quantitative detection of Al by PIXE is prone to artifacts owing to the self‐absorption of the fluorescence X‐rays of light elements ( Z ≤ 15) inside the particle grains themselves [ Boni et al , 1990; Jex et al , 1990; D'Alessandro et al , 2003]. Of course, the same problem is suffered by another widely used technique, the XRF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐attenuation artifacts and correction factors of light element measurements by X‐ray analysis: Implication for mineral dust composition studies

Formenti¹,

Nava²,

Prati³

et al. 2010

J. Geophys. Res.

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[1] On a global scale, mineral dust is one of the major components of atmospheric aerosols and has important effects on the radiative budget of the atmosphere and thus on climate forcing. An accurate measurement of the concentration of crustal elements, namely Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, and Fe, is mandatory for the study of desert aerosols. The concentration of light elements, when measured by X-ray emission techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), can be underestimated owing to self-absorption of the emitted soft X-rays inside aerosol particles. In this work, we analyzed dust samples collected in field campaigns and samples produced in the laboratory using dust of known composition. Measurements have been conducted with PIXE and energy-dispersive XRF (ED-XRF), together with an attenuation-free technique such as particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) and attenuation corrected wavelength-dispersive XRF (WD-XRF) by internal standard calibration. We focus on the determination of Al and present results of a PIXE versus PIGE intercomparison. Aluminum concentration was measured with both techniques in dust samples collected by aircraft sampling over western Africa during winter 2006 and summer 2007. An underestimation of the Al concentration determined by PIXE was observed (up to 40%), and it was compared with the results of a simple calculation using basic physics and the size distribution of the collected aerosol. Similar attenuation was observed for Mg, Al, and Si in the laboratory samples analyzed by ED-XRF and WD-XRF. In order to use concentration ratios involving light elements as tracers of the region of emission of the sampled dust, these artifacts (i.e., underestimation of the concentration of light elements) induced by self-attenuation should be properly considered and corrected.Citation: Formenti, P., S. Nava, P. Prati, S. Chevaillier, A. Klaver, S. Lafon, F. Mazzei, G. Calzolai, and M. Chiari (2010), Self-attenuation artifacts and correction factors of light element measurements by X-ray analysis: Implication for mineral dust composition studies,

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐attenuation artifacts and correction factors of light element measurements by X‐ray analysis: Implication for mineral dust composition studies

Formenti¹,

Nava²,

Prati³

et al. 2010

J. Geophys. Res.

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“…The latter has been stimulated by the successful use of methods, such as particle induced X-ray analysis (PIXE) [1], particle induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) [2] and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) [3] in aerosol studies. Nuclepore and other polycarbonate filters are frequently used as substrates for particulate sampling, even though they can present, due to their composition, severe background problems in the detection of light elements (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PIXE and ToF-SIMS analysis of streaker samplers filters

D’Alessandro

Nava

Ham

et al. 2004

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B:

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The paper presents methodological innovations introduced in the characterisation of urban aerosol collected in Italy in a recent campaign. Two complementary ion beam analysis (IBA) techniques were used to analyse Nuclepore filters used in continuous streaker samplers to collect airborn particles in four Italian towns. Na to Pb elemental concentrations were obtained by particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), while time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) produced, on the same samples, time trends for several elements and molecular fragments. In addition, light attenuation measurements were used as a tracer for black carbon. The data produced by these three techniques was merged into a unique data set to address the characterisation of particulate matter sources. Correlations between elemental concentration trends (PIXE) and relative trends for molecular fragments (ToF-SIMS) and black carbon (light attenuation) have been studied by cluster and principal component analysis.

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Proton‐InducedX‐Ray Emission in Environmental Analysis

Ghermandi

2000

Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry

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Particle‐induced X‐ray emission (PIXE) is an analytical method based upon X‐ray spectrometry. In the vast majority of applications, a proton beam is used to eject inner‐shell electrons from atoms in a solid specimen (target). When the resulting vacancies are filled by outer‐shell electrons, characteristic X‐rays whose energies identify the particular atom are emitted. Proton PIXE is performed by a small particle accelerator (the most widely used is the Van de Graaff machine at a 2–3 MV voltage, more recently also small tandem accelerators), that provides a beam of protons. The beam emerging from the accelerator, stabilized and directed by electrostatic and magnetic steering elements in a high vacuum line, enters the specimen chamber through suitable collimators. The X‐ray detection system, housed in the chamber, is generally a Si(Li) device, that combines the advantage of high efficiency in the X‐ray energy region of interest (usually 2–20 keV) with a good energy resolution. A typical PIXE spectrum consists of characteristic X‐ray peaks superimposed on a background due to bremsstrahlung radiations and nuclear reactions induced by the beam. The area of each peak is related directly to the concentration of the corresponding element in the specimen. Various software codes have been developed to deconvolute spectra and to accurately calculate peak areas. PIXE intrinsic detection limit (DL) is not very much below 1 ppm (mg kg −1 ) in a given matrix. It offers its maximum sensitivity in two atomic number (Z) regions: 20 < Z < 35 and 75 < Z < 85. Measurement errors are in the order of 10%, depending mainly on the target preparation procedure and on the slight variability of the proton flux. The PIXE technique allows fast (few minutes), nondestructive, highly sensitive simultaneous determinations of a wide group of elements (12 ≤ Z ≤ 85), without large variations in sensitivity among different elements. The total element concentration is measured by PIXE, independent of different oxidation states. Adequate sample preparation procedures may be required in environmental PIXE applications since solid targets have to be exposed to the particle beam. Thin targets are preferable, in order to minimize matrix effects. For thin samples and for light‐element matrices, PIXE has superior sensitivity compared to X‐ray fluorescence (XRF). In heavy‐element matrices XRF is preferable. DLs for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICPAES) may be lower than for PIXE (depending on the sample dilution factor), but the topic of interferences is much more complex for ICPAES than for PIXE.

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A PIXE-PIGE setup for the analysis of thin samples

Cited by 32 publications

References 20 publications

Self‐attenuation artifacts and correction factors of light element measurements by X‐ray analysis: Implication for mineral dust composition studies

Self‐attenuation artifacts and correction factors of light element measurements by X‐ray analysis: Implication for mineral dust composition studies

PIXE and ToF-SIMS analysis of streaker samplers filters

Proton‐InducedX‐Ray Emission in Environmental Analysis

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