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Spada’s is one of the hardest projects to tune the beam for. “The beam is way over-powered to run my samples, at baseline,” Spada said, comparing the amount of power he needs to a couple drops of water, “but the beam, it’s like Niagara Falls.”
The technique Spada relies on, particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE), is a focused stream of protons to knock electrons out of atoms embedded in the sample. As those atoms stabilize, they emit x-rays—and each element gives off a signature energy….
