A micro-beam PIXE analysis system has been developed to identify the two-dimensional distribution of trace elements in small biological or environmental samples. The system consists of a tapered glass capillary tube with a tip diameter of the order of 10 µm to collimate a proton beam, a microscope for observation of the sample, and a computer-controlled 2-D stages. Performance of the system was tested by scanning a micro-beam across the surface of a metal mesh sample and measuring the PIXE spectra.
A large amount of yellow sand dust from Asian continent is blown across Japan Sea into Japan, especially in spring season.
In addition, atmospheric turbid conditions are occasionally observed in spring without the influence of yellow sand dust particles in recent years over western part of Japan.
To understand such turbid conditions, we collected aerosols at Nagasaki in western part of japan.
Aerosol samples were analyzed by in-air PIXE system at Tohoku University. As aresult, time dependence of the density of fine particles were related to that of elemental concentrations of sulfur which were transported from the Asian continent.
A method for finding slight misalignment of detectors in FinePET using a radioactive point source is developed. Using this multi step method, we found correct coordinates of detectors in FinePET and finally we improved the spatial resolution and image quality.