Colloquium: 50 Years of PIXE around the world

Speaker

Iain Campbell, University Professor Emeritus, Dept of Physics, University of Guelph

Abstract

2020 marks 50 years since the first use of proton-induced X-ray emission for non-destructive analysis of materials. PIXE is now a mature member of the group of accelerator-based techniques known as ion beam analysis (IBA). After a half-century, it seems a good time to recollect major or intriguing PIXE achievements in labs around the world. The examples chosen here range from metal diffusion into tissue from knee implants to analysis of the metallic  thread in the pillow from the deathbed of St Francis of Assisi;  from continent-wide networks for air quality studies to the migration of Arctic fish; from new understanding of Alzheimer’s brain plaques to new insights into metalloprotein biochemistry.