PIXE Analysis and Its Applications on Biological Materials

Particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) is a non-destructive ion beam analytical technique for elemental mapping and analysis using high energy ion beams as a probe and the characteristic X-rays of the sample elements as analytical signal. During PIXE heavy energy ions typically 1-4 MeV proton beams are used to induce element specific X-rays of the target sample of study. PIXE is surface sensitive due to the limited range of the impinging ions matter. With the advancement of microprobes with high focusing techniques, accelerated ion beams can be focused to 1µm level making PIXE one of the most effective analytical tools of detecting elements ranging from hydrogen to Uranium with up to ppm sensitivity, hence giving a clear picture of elemental distribution and composition of many samples including biological materials. In this paper, I will discuss the background process of PIXE analysis, sample preparation and report the results.