Observation of changes in ion beam induced luminescence spectra from organics during focused microbeam irradiation

Continuous measurement of ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) spectra was demonstrated with organic targets of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), tryptophan, riboflavin, and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), which are typically used as markers of biological contaminants in airborne particles. A 3 MeV external proton microbeam from a single-ended accelerator at QST/Takasaki was used to probe for changes in the IBIL spectrum using micro-optics sharing a focal point with the microprobe. We find that the decay of IBIL spectra from NADH and riboflavin varied by target organic species. Moreover, new peaks in the IBIL spectrum were recorded by continuous IBIL spectroscopy from the PAH target after destruction of a peak originally obtained in the initial measurement. These results suggest that IBIL monitoring can detect changes in the chemical composition of organics under focused beam irradiation.