Micro-beam scanning PIXE analysis system at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS)

In 2000, micro-beam scanning particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis system was installed in NIRS. This system provides the ability of multi-elemental mapping on maximum 2.5 mm×2.5 mm area in a spatial resolution of about 1 μm with quadrupole triplet magnets and a scanning coil. The estimated beam size on good tuning was 0.40×0.65 μm², that is one of the best capacity of micro-beam scanning PIXE system in the world. The performance was tested using small biological samples such as fish scale, pollen and small fish eye. Fine elemental maps were obtained in the samples of about 30 μm to a few mm size in the special resolution of about 1 μm. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.