New parallel beam wavelength dispersive X-ray emission spectrometer at Ljubljana microprobe

A new parallel beam wavelength dispersive X-ray emission spectrometer for high energy resolution PIXE analysis using focused proton microbeam has been constructed and installed at the microprobe of the J. Stefan Institute. Polycapillary X-ray optics is used to enhance the solid angle of X-ray collection and to transform collected proton-induced X-rays into quasi parallel beam which is analyzed using diffraction on a flat crystal. The spectrometer is installed in a vacuum chamber and operates in the 2-10 keV energy range. The main characteristics and operational properties are presented together with the results of first characterization measurements. Finally, two selected experimental examples are given illustrating the capabilities of the spectrometer in PIXE analysis and fundamental research in atomic physics. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.