An upgraded external beam PIXE setup for multielemental analysis of atmospheric aerosol samples

摘要

>The external beam particle‐induced X‐ray emission (PIXE) setup has been upgraded by introducing a new silicon drift detector with the aim of obtaining better minimum detection limits (MDLs) at the 2?×?1.7?MV Tandetron accelerator of the Beijing Normal University in China. The upgraded external beam PIXE setup is equipped with two silicon drift detectors for PIXE analysis of low and high Z elements. A surface barrier detector for Rutherford backscattering spectrometry monitors beam and helium flow. Two kinds of aerosol filter samples (quartz fiber filters and Teflon filters) were studied. A 200‐μm thick Mylar absorber in front of the medium‐high energy X‐rays detector was adopted, and it got the best MDLs for atmospheric aerosol samples analysis. Multielemental analysis of quartz fiber filter aerosol samples was achieved. For more accurate and better MDLs of low Z elements in PIXE analysis, it is necessary to keep sufficient helium flow behind the thin samples.