Asad Shariff

Calibration of a new chamber using GUPIX software package for PIXE analysis

A new chamber has been designed and constructed for the second beam line at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe facility, Sweden. The aim with the chamber is to perform standardized analyses with most of the nuclear analytical techniques (proton induced X-ray emission, particle elastic scattering analysis, proton induced gamma emission, nuclear reaction analysis, etc.) with a millimetre size beam. The beam line and chamber constructions are described in this paper. The possibility to run samples in batch. and the special arrangement developed for this is described. A mass calibration of the PIXE set-up has been done with MicroMatter thin film standards and other thick standards. The spectra were acquired with CAMAC based data acquisition system with Kmax interfacing software. The GUPIX software package recently installed in our laboratory has been used to process the PIXE spectra and the results are compared with the certified values. For standardization the instrumental constant H (solid angle and correction factor) is determined relying completely on the GUPIX data base (cross-sections, fluorescence and Coster-Kronig probabilities, stopping powers and attenuation coefficients) for a large set of elements. These H values are saved inside the GUPIX library, to be used in future analysis. (Less)

The penetration depth and lateral distribution of pigment related to the pigment grain size and the calendering of paper

The interaction of ink and newspaper has been investigated and the specific question of penetration of ink into the paper has been addressed with a nuclear microprobe using particle induced X-ray emission, The penetration depth of the newsprint is a critical factor in terms of increasing the quality of newsprint and minimising the amount of ink used. The objective of the experiment was to relate the penetration depth of pigment with the calendering of the paper, The dependence of the penetration depth on the pigment grain size was also Studied, To Study the penetration depth of pigment in paper, cyan ink with Cu as a tracer of the coloured pigment was used, For the study of the penetration depth dependence of pigment size. specially grounded Japanese ink with well-defined pigment grain size was used. This was compared to Swedish ink with pigment grains with normal size-distribution, The results show that the calendering of the paper considerably affects the penetration depth of ink

Surface micro-distributions of pigment and the relation between smearing and local mass distribution

Abstract In this work, the process of smearing and its time evolution have been investigated. When smearing occurs, the print is removed from the printed paper and colours other parts of the paper or the printing press and destroys the final product. To study the re-distribution of ink, cyan ink with Cu as a tracer in the coloured pigment has been used. Non-printed paper has been pressed against the paper, 1 and 5 s after the printing. The micro-distributions of ink on both printed and non-printed papers have then been studied using particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE). Basis weight was measured with the off-axis scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) technique and this data was correlated with the data from the print. One conclusion is that the process of smearing is not dependent on the shape of the pigment distribution, i.e. copper, or the content of copper in a specific pixel. On the contrary, the smearing was found to be related to the structure of the paper and that it mainly occurs where the paper is thicker.

BIO-PIXE IN MARINE SCIENCE - OTOLITHS AND PLANKTON

Otoliths and phytoplanktons have been investigated using a nuclear microprobe. A brief description of sample preparation and irradiation conditions is given. The results indicate a great potential of the technique in marine sciences.