PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) is a micro-focus X-ray fluorescence instrument for examining fine scale chemical variations in rocks and soils on planetary surfaces. Selected for flight on the Mars 2020 rover science payload, PIXL can measure elemental chemistry of tiny features observed in rocks, such as individual sand grains, veinlets, cements, concretions and crystals.<br/>The PIXL sensor head is mounted on the turret at the end of the Mars 2020 rover arm. It combines a novel, 28 kV power supply (S. Battel, University of Michigan) with a newly developed side-window, grounded-cathode x-ray tube (Moxtek), and a polycapillary x-ray optic (XOS) to generate a 120 mm diameter x-ray beam that is rastered over a 24 mm x 24 mm field of view. Two SDD detectors are used to collect the fluoresced spectra and an optical fiducial subsystem is used to image rock morphology, guide placement of PIXL, and determine the x-ray beam location on the targeted surface.<br/>The overall PIXL design, performance and operational concepts will be presented, along with a summary of development test results.

Overview of the Mars 2020 mission micro-XRF instrument PIXL

251st National Meeting (2016)

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