Analysis of trace elements in gold alloys by SR-XRF at high energy at the BAMline

Measuring in a non-destructive way the characteristic trace elements of the metal allows following the circulation of gold in the past. The aim of this work is to probe the possibilities of X-ray fluorescence with high energy synchrotron radiation (SR-XRF) at the BAMline at BESSY II to determine the concentration of Pt in ancient gold alloys. A HP-Ge detector was used to measure the Pt K-lines excited with an incident energy of 79.5 keV. Data processing was done by subtraction of a Pt free gold standard spectrum from the spectrum of the sample. Depending on the sample composition, the MDL ranges between 40 and 90 ppm. The first results obtained for a small set of gold alloys of different thickness, size and composition showed that high energy SR-XRF is a significant method for the non-destructive determination of Pt in gold.

[1]  E. Pernicka,et al.  An Assessment of Osmium Isotope Ratios as a New Tool to Determine the Provenance of Gold with Platinum‐Group Metal Inclusions* , 2003 .

[2]  Koen Janssens,et al.  A general Monte Carlo simulation of ED-XRF spectrometers. II: Polarized monochromatic radiation, homogeneous samples , 1995 .

[3]  T. Fukamachi,et al.  A first-principle approach to X-ray scattering from solids , 2004 .

[4]  R. Dube.  Interrelation between gold and tin: A historical perspective , 2006 .

[5]  Heinrich Riesemeier,et al.  BAMline: the first hard X-ray beamline at BESSY II , 2001 .

[6]  M. Guerra.  Fingerprinting ancient gold with proton beams of different energies , 2004 .

[7]  M. Guerra,et al.  THE TREASURE OF GUARRAZAR: TRACING THE GOLD SUPPLIES IN THE VISIGOTHIC IBERIAN PENINSULA* , 2007 .

[8]  R. Reece.  Book reviewMetallurgy in numismatics: Vol. I. Edited by D. M. Metcalf and W. A. Oddy. 1980. 217 pp., 28 plates, and numerous text figures. London: Royal Numismatic Society, Special Publication No. 13. Price not given , 1981 .

[9]  M. Tite,et al.  The analysis of platinum-group element inclusions in gold antiquities , 1980 .

[10]  R. Van Grieken,et al.  Handbook of x-ray spectrometry: Methods and techniques , 1993 .

[11]  M. Guerra,et al.  Fingerprinting ancient gold by measuring Pt with spatially resolved high energy Sy-XRF , 2005 .

[12]  René Van Grieken,et al.  Cultural heritage conservation and environmental impact assessment by non-destructive testing and micro-analysis , 2004 .

[13]  P. P. Kane.  Inelastic scattering of X-rays and gamma rays by inner shell electrons , 1992 .

[14]  M. Guerra.  The circulation of South American precious metals in Brazil at the end of the 17th century , 2004 .