Use of Rutherford forward scattering for the elemental analysis of evaporated liquid samples

Multielemental analysis of evaporated liquid samples is possible by irradiating the samples with a 16 MeV $7Li$ beam and detecting the elastically scattered ions at 28°. The method is easily applied when Rutherford scattering dominates. To prepare the targets, the liquid sample is deposited on a formvar backing and dried with vacuum. Preliminary results indicate a possible relationship between sample concentration, uniformity and spectrum energy resolution. Details on the spectrum analysis will be given. The method is mainly useful for multielemental quantification in the low mass region from lithium to fluorine where standard techniques such as PIXE and TXRF are useless.