Length: 24 cm (9.5 inches)
Diameter: 7.6 cm (3 inches)
Weight: .92 kg (2.02 lbs)
Pumping: 483 mm (19 inches) Hg vacuum at one liter/minute

Length: 28 cm (11 inches)
Diameter: 7.6 cm (3 inches)
Weight: 1.08 kg (2.4 lbs)
Pumping: 648 mm (25.5 inches) Hg vacuum at one liter/minute

The PIXE cascade impactor is an air particulate sampler that uses inertial impaction to collect aerodynamically fractionated particulate samples. The particulate matter can be separated in up to ten diameter ranges: >16, 16-8, 8-4, 4-2, 2-1, 1.0-0.5, 0.5-0.25, 0.25-0.12, 0.12-0.06, and <0.06 µm. These ten intervals provide adequate resolution to characterize aerosols in a region of great environmental interest.

PIXE impactors are molded of electrically-conductive high-quality plastic with o-ring seals, and are designed for modest pumping requirements of 1.0 liter/minute. Samples are impacted onto coated Kapton or Nuclepore (PCTE) backings and are suitable for analysis using ion-beam techniques such as PIXE (Proton-Induced X-ray Emission) and PESA (Proton Elastic-Scattering Analysis) or SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) plus x-ray spectroscopy. Such analyses are available both commercially and through university and government research laboratories worldwide.

Impactor Operation Requirements