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X-rays for Archaeology pp 67–100Cite as

Ion Beam Techniques for the Non-destructive Analysis of Archaelogical Materials

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Abstract

Proton-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) has been proved to be a very rapid and accurate method for the elemental analysis of ancient artefacts. Using protons whose energy is lower than 3 MeV, it is possible to obtain, in a few minutes, the actual composition of narrow parts of artefacts, without any sampling, even at microscopic level. Any element with an atomic weight higher than 20 may be analysed. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) are complementary techniques mainly useful to control the homogeneity in depth and then to study superficial layers. RBS is mainly powerful for the profiling of heavy elements, but NRA is only used for light elements. Examples of applications will mainly concern, in this contribution, the study of metallic artefacts.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LARN, Laboratoire d’Analyses par Réactions Nucléaires, Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, 61 rue de Bruxelles, B-5000, Namur, Belgium

    Guy Demortier

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  1. Guy Demortier
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Waseda University, 3-4-1 Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    M. Uda

  2. Namur University, Namur, Belgium

    G. Demortier

  3. University of Tokyo, Japan

    I. Nakai

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Demortier, G. (2005). Ion Beam Techniques for the Non-destructive Analysis of Archaelogical Materials. In: Uda, M., Demortier, G., Nakai, I. (eds) X-rays for Archaeology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3581-0_4

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