MICROBEAM ANALYSIS OF SINGLE AEROSOL PARTICLES AT TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

Abstract

A microbeam system has been developed for the analysis of single aerosol particles. Combination of PIXE, RBS and off-axis STIM methods enabled simultaneous analysis for hydrogen to metal elements. Aerosol particles were collected on thin polycarbonate film (~0.3 μm) resulting in good signal-to-noise ratio. Quantitative elemental correlation was measured for single aerosol particles. A total of 270 particles were analyzed and clustered into 4 groups. The analysis system reveals the chemical composition of aerosol particles and is a powerful tool for source identification.