Continuous observation of ion beam induced luminescence spectra from organic standard targets

Ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) analysis was performed on organic targets are typical organic contaminants in aerosols. An external proton microbeam with an energy of 3 MeV was selected as the probe for the continuous IBIL measurement. Commercially available organic standards, including common amino acids (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, riboflavin and tryptophan) and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (benzo[a]pyrene), were used to test the analysis. Differences in chemical composition were distinguished by the shape of the IBIL spectrum in the UV/visible/near-IR region (200–900 nm). The IBIL spectrum changed as the proton irradiation damage increased. These results suggest that qualitative characterization of organic materials might be possible through the continuous measurement of IBIL spectra.