Applications of a new portable (micro) XRF instrument having low‐Z elements determination capability in the field of works of art

X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) is a powerful tool for nondestructive analysis of chemical elements present in art and archeological material. Nevertheless, investigations of objects possessing a glassy matrix still offer some problems using XRF because of the absorption in air of the low-energy characteristic fluorescence radiation of light elements. With the design of a XRF instrument equipped with a vacuum chamber housing both, the x-ray optics and the detector snout inside, a new attempt to solve this problem was made. The Conservation Science Department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (KHM) had the opportunity to test this instrument on different objects of art. An overview of some results from these measurements, together with a short discussion of the experiences gained during the investigations, is presented in this article. Copyright  2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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