N to K Uranium PIXE spectra obtained at the high resolution high energy PIXE setup

Abstract

The CTN (previous ITN) high resolution high energy (HRHE) PIXE set-up facility was set in operation on July 2008 and upgrades were being implemented until late in 2011. The study of a pure UO2 sample and the mapping of geological sample are the first results where the whole range of possibilities has been exploited, namely the possibility of obtaining simultaneous spectra covering a very wide energy range of more than 100keV. In this paper, the N-shell to K-shell spectra of Uranium is presented and discussed, as well as the details on the characteristics and capacities of the setup, including the automated X–Y positioning systems installed in the X–Y–Z sample support unit, which allows for the possibility of making macroscopic mappings of geological samples (Chaves et al. (2013) [1]). As for the N-shell lines in the X-ray Microcalorimeter Spectrometer (XMS) spectrum, due to the lack of data (Zschornack (2007) [2]), transition energies were determined using ab initio calculations assuming a closed shell U4+ electronic structure for Uranium prior to the ionisation by proton impact.