Aerosol composition studies using accelerator proton bombardment

The proton beam of the Florida State University Tandem Van de Graaff Accelerator is being used to make quantitative determinations of the composition of particulate matter found in the atmosphere. Proton scattering using 16 MeV incident particle energy is employed to resolve the light elements (up to Cl), while elements Al and heavier are observed via proton induced x-ray emission analysis. In order to realize advantages of these proton excited analyses, specialized techniques are used, such as the use of uniform beams which entirely cover the area of targets of nonuniform areal density. Also, specialized air sampling equipment was built to take advantage of the small size of samples required for proton-induced analyses. The multielement character, ease of automation, and short time (several minutes) needed for analysis make these techniques attractive from the standpoint of analysis cost per sample