TABLE OF CONTENTS E.Koltay 1 , F.P szti 2 , A.Z.Kiss 1 , L.Vincze 3 , F.Adams 3
1 Istitute of Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Debrecen, Hungary
2 KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Budapest, Hungary
3 Micro-Trace Analysis Centre, University of Antwerp (UIA), B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
This chapter discusses the basic principles of analytical methods that are based on the application of particle accelerators, i.e., Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and Microscopic X-ray Fluorescence Analysis (micro-SRXRF). Beside the underlying physical processes, methodical questions, analytical capabilities and typical fields of application will also be discussed.
Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) is a combined process, in which continuum and characteristic X-rays are generated through the recombination of electrons and electron vacancies produced in ion-atom collision events during slowing down of a beam of charged particles in an object. The unique correspondence between the energies of characteristic X-ray lines and the atomic numbers of the excited atoms makes PIXE a useful method in instrumental analytics. The characteristic features of PIXE as an analytical tool are as follows:
applicability to the determination of absolute concentration of elemental constituents in a wide range of atomic number,
easy sample preparation; practically non-destructive direct analysis of the surface of the original objects,
high sensitivity in trace element determination on small-volume samples,
high speed in the preparations and measurements,
possibility of obtaining analytical...
