A new beamline for energy-dispersive high-resolution PIXE analysis using polycapillary optics

A new beamline for high energy resolution PIXE measurements is presented. This new setup includes options for both in-air and vacuum measurements. For the high energy resolution transition-edge sensor array, a poly capillary lens is used for detecting low-energy X-rays down to 0.5 keV and to increase the effective solid angle. Xray transmission of the polycapillary lens was characterized using two calibration standards. The gain obtained by adding a polycapillary lens was 1.6-2.3 at energies between 2.1 keV and 4.5 keV. From 1.04 to 1.74 keV the gain is increased to 2.1-3.0, and at energies 4.9-8.0 keV the gain is between 1.6 and 0.65. The measured gain agreed well with theoretical calculations. The lightest detectable element in the new setup is oxygen at 0.525 keV.