Correction of X-ray detection yield in micro-PIXE analysis according to sample thickness variation measured by STIM

The purpose of this study is to correct yields of characteristic X-ray in micro-PIXE analysis by using scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) and computer calculation. We developed a computer calculation code to compensate the reduction of X-ray yields due to the thickness variation of a sample. We used STIM to investigate the thickness distribution of the sample, which was not considered before in the analysis by micro-PIXE. To confirm the validity of the code, granulated powder of ion exchange resin, which has spherical grains similar in size to biological cells, was used in this work as a test sample to be analyzed by micro-PIXE and STIM. Errors in the distributions of sodium in the resin obtained by micro-PIXE analysis could be corrected according to the thickness distribution obtained by STIM to some extent by using our code.