Institute of Technology
Lund University

In the frame of WP3 (Ion Microscopy) freeze-dried cryo-cross-sections of pig and human skin samples delivered by the contractor (and received from other laboratories) in WP2 will be analysed by Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) technique for mapping of the elements Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti (and heavier ones in special cases) simultaneously using the mm focused beam supplied by the scanning nuclear microprobe of the subcontractor’s laboratory. For the evaluation of the obtained data a program package developed in the subcontractor’s laboratory and tested in international intercomparison studies will be used. The PIXE analysis will be combined with Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy (STIM) for density contrast with different scan sizes. If contamination is suspected Secondary Electron (SE) detection will be performed to obtain information on the topology of the samples (discriminating between signals from possible contaminations on the surface and signals coming from greater depth). Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) will serve as a check for matrix composition and uniformity of slice thickness.

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