PIXE

PIXE is a non-destructive elemental composition technique that has been used in the last decades for various analytical tasks, such as art authenticity and aging. The X-Ray, which is a type of electromagnetic radiation, is emitted when an electron transitions from an outer to a lower energy level caused by a vacancy in the atom’s electron configuration. The X-Rays produced are unique to each element and can be analyzed with reference to known elements’ energies. For this reason, being able to identify unique elements is a powerful tool to study aging in objects, which is the PIXE application we are currently interested in. Our setup includes a PX2T-CZT Power Supply and Amplifier for the XR-100T CdTe γ/X-Ray Detector and a Pocket MCA-800D (Multi-Channel Analyzer). In order to perform the energy calibration, three known isotopes are analyzed: 241Am,57Co and 133Ba. With multiples Z’s peaks from a range of foils, we are able to construct a Z vs E1/2 curve that will let us identify unknowns. Their peaks in channels are made corresponding to their known energies. We looked into the composition of old versus new pennies confirming that it has in fact changed over time. In addition,we are going to collaborate with the chemical engineering department to analyze their unknown samples. In addition, we plan on attaching the PIXE to the K150 in the Cyclotron Institute.