Reconstruction of relief by means of stereo-PIXE set-up for curved target

This paper demonstrates an innovative simple technique to reconstruct the irregularities on the surfaces with curved geometry in stereo-PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) set-up. The method assumes that the local inclination of the topographical structure of the object results in X-ray yield asymmetries in two spectrometers mounted on both sides of the probing beam. The relief on the curved target could be quantitatively reconstructed by comparing the detected yield asymmetries and those calculated from a known non-structured cylindrical sample model of the target. The results of the relief reconstruction on a cone seashell at different radii close to its tip demonstrate that the method could reveal the relief in a region of the scanned area which is in the field of view of the two spectrometers.