Standardization of proton induced X-ray emission for analysis of trace elements in thick samples

Abstract

This paper presents the standardization of proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique for the analysis of trace elements in thick, standard samples. Three standard reference materials, titanium, copper, and iron base alloys, were used for the study due to their availability. The proton beam was accelerated up to 2.57 MeV energy by 5UDH-II tandem Pelletron accelerator, and samples were irradiated at different geometries and durations. Spectra were acquired using a multi-channel spectrum analyzer, and spectra analyses were done using GUPIXWIN software for determination of elemental concentrations of trace elements. The obtained experimental data were compared with theoretical data and results were found to be in close agreement.