An annular Si drift detector μPIXE system using AXSIA analysis

Sandia and Rontec have developed an annular, 12-element, 60 mm2, Peltier-cooled, translatable, silicon drift detector called the SDD-12. The body of the SDD-12 is only 22.8 mm in total thickness and easily fits between the sample and the upstream wall of the Sandia microbeam chamber. At a working distance of 1 mm, the solid angle is 1.09 sr. The energy resolution is 170 eV at count rates <40 kcps and 200 eV for rates of 1 Mcps. X-ray count rates must be maintained below 50 kcps when protons are allowed to strike the full area of the SDD. Another innovation with this new μPIXE system is that the data are analyzed using Sandia's Automated eXpert Spectral Image Analysis (AXSIA)