The determination of the elemental composition of glasses for forensic application using a combination of proton induced X-ray emission and inelastic proton scattering

Proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) is used in an attempt to identify glass samples with the aid to determine, trace element concentrations. The elements Na and A1 are simultaneously determined using the (p, p' γ) nuclear reaction. The preparation of very thin and homogeneous glass targets is discussed and a procedure is described to obtain an accurate equipment calinration, checked afterwards with NBS bovine liver. Results are given for 11 different glass samples.