XRF Wiki
Welcome to the XRF Wiki. This Wiki is a repository of information contributed by members of [email protected]. Members can view and edit the pages. The pages are currently not viewable by the public. The pages below represent a rough overview of the technology and techniques associated with X-Ray Florescence Spectroscopy as well as serving as a place for members to organize the spectra that they have contributed to the forum.?
As a starting point, the pages will be populated by information taken from member posts from the past few years - with references/attribution. Perhaps in time, these pages can be edited by members to make them more complete and less choppy. Members can also edit this page, making the structure of the content more organized.?
Pages can contain information about a particular topic, links to relevant resources (such as manuals, research papers, etc.), links to relevant forum discussions on the topic, book titles, or anything that might be useful.
What follows is very much a work in progress.
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Adding to the Wiki
For those unfamiliar with the Wiki phenomenon, it is basically a user editable encyclopedia. The idea is that there are pages with different articles, which the user can read and also choose to edit if desired. If a piece of information is incorrect, a link outdated, or the presentation choppy or unclear, the user can just click "Edit Page" at the bottom and then fix the mistake. There is also a "Page History," so if you a user were to make a mistake or maliciously destroy a page (which wouldn't happen here) an editor can come along and restore the page to a previous version.?
If you have used MediaWiki (the engine that runs behind the scene of Wikipedia.org) you will be familiar with a certain style of creating an article. There are tags that one uses to change the formatting of the parts of the article. The Wiki on Groups.io uses a different background engine and so the standard MediaWiki syntax does not apply here. Rather, the page is edited using the same tools as one would use to compose a message on the forums. If you are a programmer or someone who likes using the tagged syntax directly, you can access the underlying page source code, be activating the advanced editing toolbar (the icon with three lines on the far right of the basic toolbar) and then clicking on the source code icon <> on the far right of the Advance Editing Toolbar. You will immediately notice that the underlying source code is HTML. Most things can be done just by using the various icons, but advanced features like table can only be implemented by manually writing the source code. (Although there are website available that will generate the source code for you through a graphical interface.)
Here are some useful resources from Groups.io:?
Wiki Guide for Users and Editors
Message Composition Tips and Tricks
Overview of XRF
X-Ray Florescence vs. X-Ray Diffraction
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Hardware
This section describes the hardware used for XRF. We will describe the basic theory of operation of each stage in the processing tool chain and then present different commercial systems that are available as these systems are often integrated together.
[Editor note: General theory needs to be in an independent page separate from specific manufacturer information.
[Editor note - question: Should this be arranged by category, e.g detectors, preamps, etc or by manufacturer with the manufacturers product line on one page. Perhaps it's best to put a list of products with theory but the details of the products on a manufacture page...]
Detectors?- what's available, theory of operation, tradeoffs
Detector Cooling?- keeping detectors cool to avoid thermal noise and keeping the TEC from overheating
Preamps?- theory of operation, brief summary of what out there (and what not to do - such as trying to use a PMT preamp for a SiPIN diode...)
Pulse Processing Theory - high level overview of the stages of going from detector pulse to channel peaks on the computer
Commercial Systems - many commercial systems are integrated so it seems to make sense to present, for example all Amptek products together. [question: are their other affordable integrated systems besides Amptek?]
Amptek XRF System
Activation Sources - what do you use to make the sample fluoresce (that's within the amateur budget and doesn't require special licensing)
Software
- Device Control Software - what do you use to collect the data from the detector system
- XRF Analysis Software - what do you use to analyze the data, especially for quantitative measurements (composition percentages, thin film measurement)
- Free Software Tools
Note: there may be software packages that possess some or all of these characteristics.
Materials Spectra
Metals Spectra
Historic/Archeological Spectra
Reference Materials Spectra
Household Objects Spectra
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Resources
Videos
Articles
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Non-XRF Techniques
Gamma Spectroscopy
Raman Spectroscopy
FTIR - Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy
Inductively Coupled Atomic Emission Spectroscopy
Spark Emission Spectroscopy
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
LIBS - Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
Photoacoustic Spectroscopy
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Technical terms - definitions as used in this group.
*On this group we shall abide by the strict scientific definitions of waves (rays) and particles. Antiquated language is confusing to say the least.*
*The name "Cosmic Rays" is a perfect example,
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1
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Re: Technical terms - 1) What are X-Rays?
*X-Rays are electromagnetic waves, or rays, so that part is correct. Where the contention comes in is in their definition. Outdated charts of the electromagnetic spectrum show them listed as
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2
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Re: Technical terms - 2) What is "fluorescence"?
****
*Fluorescence*
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*physics*
*Written By:*
* *The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica ( https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419
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GEOelectronics@...
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#4
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Re: Technical terms - 3) So, what is XRF and how do we use it to analyze materials?
*
The specific X-Rays we use to identify elements are called "Characteristic X-Rays" Each electron in every individual element occupies a certain distinct energy level, unique to only that element and
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GEOelectronics@...
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#5
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Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
Charles you mentioned possibly directly detecting cerium X-Rays in minerals? When you have a chance, would you explaining the method and reasoning?
Geo
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GEOelectronics@...
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#6
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Hello! Lixi PS-500 unit
I recently purchased a LIXI inspection system. Waiting for them to ship
it. I hope it works, as it would provide x-ray inspection capability for
small stuff as well as being an excellent, highly
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Nick Andrews
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#7
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Re: Hello! Lixi PS-500 unit
LIXI inspection units are excellent! As you mention their sources are
highly controllable, both in voltage and current, both being in the low
regions 10-50 keV and usually operate 0-100 _MICRO_amps
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GEOelectronics@...
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#8
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Re: Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
Ok, keep in mind that all the minerals in my collection are radioactive and
I am just measuring the secondary XRF stimulated by the internal
radioactivity of these specimens. I use no external xray
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Charles David Young
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#23
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Re: Hello! Lixi PS-500 unit
Picture of same model(?) that ran through the shop last year-
This one was in a cabinet unit version called the "Workstation" it lives at the Mayo Clinic as a "OS Table Top" unit now.
The big cable
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GEOelectronics@...
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#24
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Re: Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
Very interesting Charles. Normally I discount self-XRF ideas but your scans make a compelling argument. Will look into that in future...
Meanwhile you can get some elemental cerium (glass polish etc)
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GEOelectronics@...
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#25
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Re: Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
Cs137 at 32 keV is what I calibrate to. Putting an elemental Ce material
next to Am241 might be interesting though.
El dom., 21 de oct. de 2018 a la(s) 13:59,
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Charles David Young
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#26
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Re: Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
it looks like this (from page 58 of XRF Experiments" located in FILES
section:
Links:
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[1] /g/XRF/message/26
[2] /mt/27458950/486545
[3]
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GEOelectronics@...
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#27
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Re: Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
*Self Excitation:* In working with Luuk's new (to me) 2" x 2" CsI 'puck',
I was quite surprised to detect self excitation of
the Bi, U, and Ra XRF lines using a small chunk (1 x 0.5 x 0.2 cm)
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W0LEV
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#28
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Re: Charles- cerium in minerals question. Geo
Congrat's on that astute finding Dave!
May I suggest that much of that is probably NOT self-XRF in the sense
we are talking about, rather it is the normal characteristic X-Rays
given off by the
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GEOelectronics@...
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#29
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Re: Hello! Lixi PS-500 unit
Well my new friend just got here! She's a hefty girl. They did carefully
foam it in the box. I pulled every piece for a quick inspection and it
looks like it's all there, if a little
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Nick Andrews
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#30
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Re: Hello! Lixi PS-500 unit
Cool!
One more thing on the to-do list!
Geo
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GEOelectronics@...
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#31
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Using the Proportional Tube Detector with Beryllium Window for XRF.
THE PROPORTIONAL PROBE AS USED FOR LOW ENERGY PHOTON IDENTIFICATION [1]
Post [2] by GEORGE DOWELL [3] ? Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:15 pm
RE: Conventions used:
Gammas and X-Rays are both electromagnetic
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GEOelectronics@...
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#33
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XRD: X-Ray Diffraction, another Non-Destructive Testing tool.
ntroduction to XRD:
*X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD)*
Barbara L Dutrow, Louisiana State University
,
Christine M. Clark, Eastern Michigan University
*What is X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD)*
X-ray
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GEOelectronics@...
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#34
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MIT XRF experiment with mention of alpha particle calibration XRF energy generator
Now in FILES:
/g/XRF/files/XRF-MIT-Experiment-Read_This.pdf
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GEOelectronics@...
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#56
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Re: MIT XRF experiment with mention of alpha particle calibration XRF energy generator
Attached is a page from Glenn F. Knoll's
"Radiation Detection and Measurement".
I ran across this about 18 years ago and have used it in practice many times since. Eventually this little article
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GEOelectronics@...
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#57
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