Virtual PIXE and RBS laboratory

Abstract

An interactive software package for a complete simulation of Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Backscattering Spectra (BS) is being developed. The user is in a position to define all experimental parameters such as incident ions (protons, deuterons or He ions), their energy, excitation and detection geometry, detector parameters and filters as well as sample composition and thicknesses of a number of layers. This is all done through an easy to operate interactive user interface. Simulated PIXE and RBS spectra are immediately displayed on the screen and can be saved either as bitmaps and/or files suitable for further processing. Each output comes with a complete set of experimental parameters, absolute and relative line intensities (including all major K and L lines), peak to background ratio and detection limits for all elements of interest.The program has also a number of utility routines to calculate various fundamental parameters such as photon cross sections, K and L shell ionization and production cross sections, energy loss, and detector efficiency. All these routines use the state-of-the art data base sources.The program operates on a personal computer under the MS Windows operating system. The simulation is fast and the program is easy to operate. The package will be useful in many ways. Firstly, it will be an excellent teaching tool for researchers/students without experience with PIXE/RBS. Secondly, it will be of immense help in planning and optimizing PIXE and/or RBS experiments. The user can ‘run’ a simulated experiment for any sample/experimental parameters and test various settings/scenarios to achieve optimal results without actually carrying out the experiment, thereby saving a lot of expensive machine time that would otherwise have been spent on trial and error experiments.