A newly developed, portable, vacuum-chamber equipped XRF-instrument, designed for the sophisticated needs of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

In the analysis of artworks x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy gains a high significance because of the non-destructiveness of the method. It can provide valuable information of technologies and materials and support conservation and restoration efforts. This method is especially suitable for the study of the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (KHM) with its affiliated institutions, because of the great diversity of the materials and objects with different art historical and ethnological background. Within a research project in cooperation of the Conservation Science Department of the KHM with the ATI (Atomic Institute of the Vienna University of Technology) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) a portable XRF instrument ("PART II") was designed and constructed, optimized to cope with the diverse analytical problems of a widespread museum collection as it is kept at the KHM. Beneath some technical improvements concerning the optimization of the design of the new instrument (regarding stability and accessibility to objects) with respect to its precursor model, a special focus was laid on the detection of light elements to be able to analyze chemical elements from sodium (Na) onwards. In this way the palette of materials that can be analyzed could be expanded to matters like glass and enamel. In this paper the advantages of the new facility will be discussed.