PIXE imaging of hyperaccumulator plants using the Maia detector array

Abstract

With its large solid angle and an input count rate beyond 10 M/s, the PIXE Maia system, recently commissioned on the CSIRO-MARC NMP at the University of Melbourne, is ideally suited to rapid, large area, high definition mapping of biological materials such as hyperaccumulator plants. These plants possess an unusual ability to accumulate large levels of toxic elements from their local environment. In this paper we summarise results collected on three accumulators, two Ni and one As. Damage issues related to PIXE analysis of materials are briefly discussed in the context of higher beam currents and fluorescence data collected to minimise their influence. Elemental maps for the three samples ar..