On the enhanced PIXE yields from thick iron fluoride targets

The enhancement effect observed by Peisach and his co-workers [Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 75 (1993) 14] in thick target PIXE measurements on transition metal fluorides was demonstrated to occur on targets containing no fluorine at all. On the basis of the very characteristic background shape the enhancement was attributed to the charging up of the insulating target. Using a hot carbon filament both the charging and the enhancement were possible to eliminate. The time course of the whole phenomenon was also monitored.