Type and energy of particles: protons or deuterons from 1 to 4MeV or Alphas from 2 to 6MeV for Alphas. Beam size: down to 20µm. Single spot or mapping on areas up to cm²-sized area (max 20x20cm²). PIXE system: 5 SDD detectors, one with a deflecting magnet and an Helium flux for low energy X-Ray detection and 4 with filtersabsorbers that can selected for a better detection of trace elements. Limits of detection : down to 1ppm regarding the elements
Potential Results
PIXE allows to get composition of materials down to traces elements (ppm) on a vast range of elements (from Na to U). Elemental composition will help to identify pigments, manufacturing techniques, provenance. PIXE gives access to the elemental composition from Na to Uranium. It is of high interest to reach this information down to the ppm level, enabling to quantify the trace elements that are fingerprints to determine the provenance of a material for instance.