title: LabVIEW control software for scanning micro-beam X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.
abstract: Confocal micro-beam X-ray fluorescence microscope was constructed. The system was assembled from commercially available components - a low power X-ray tube source, polycapillary X-ray optics and silicon drift detector - controlled by an in-house developed LabVIEW software. A video camera coupled to optical microscope was utilized to display the area excited by X-ray beam. The camera image calibration and scan area definition software were also based entirely on LabVIEW code. Presently, the main area of application of the newly constructed spectrometer is 2-dimensional mapping of element distribution in environmental, biological and geological samples with micrometer spatial resolution. The hardware and the developed software can already handle volumetric 3-D confocal scans. In this work, a front panel graphical user interface as well as communication protocols between hardware components were described. Two applications of the spectrometer, to homogeneity testing of titanium layers and to imaging of various types of grains in air particulate matter collected on membrane filters, were presented.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland. Pawel.Wrobel@fis.agh.edu.pl
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wrobel
authors.forename: Mateusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Czyzycki
authors.forename: Leszek
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Furman
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kolasinski
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lankosz
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mrenca
authors.forename: Lucyna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Samek
authors.forename: Dariusz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wegrzynek
mesh_terms: D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000737:chemistry; D012984:Software; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter; D014025:Titanium