The Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro proton microprobe as a tool for mineralogical investigation

Abstract The LNL Proton Microprobe has recently been used in performing micro-PIXE analysis of geological samples. Major and trace-element concentrations of one reference standard typical of petrological research and of some igneous rock minerals from the Mount Etna 1910 flow are shown. Comparison with other analytical techniques, accuracy and MDL of the elemental concentrations confirm that micro-PIXE is a powerful technique in mineralogical investigation and prove that the Legnaro Proton Microprobe (LPM) facility can produce reliable quantitative results.