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 If a piece of information is incorrect, a link outdated, or the presentation choppy or unclear, the user can just click "Edit Page" at the bottom and then fix the mistake.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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Re: Trinitite
What is interesting is the ratio of intensity of 235/238. Of course, nuclide production, decay activity and contribution of Unat must be considered but it still seems off. Steve
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WILLIAM S Dubyk
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#1246
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Re: Trinitite
He did weigh the sample Steve, but then he digested it in Hydrofluoric and Nitric acid. after drying he must have measured it again? Anyhow I don't know but would guess yes they can do that.
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1245
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Re: Trinitite
Is there any way to convert intensity to ppm or ppt? Steve ________________________________ Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 4:05 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [XRF] Trinitite
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WILLIAM S Dubyk
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#1244
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Possibly a mix up. I did a fresh scan cos I din save the previous mca file I thought I picked up the same one I do have many apron samples
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1243
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Re: Trinitite
"Neptunium", a YouTuber did an ICPMS mass-spectrum? of Trinitite. From the data presented on isotope ratios these are of most interest to us: Analysis? ? ?Intensity U-235? ? ? ? ? ?1523.1
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1242
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Re: Trinitite
Geo, I think you¡¯ve gone as far as you can without calculating a Pu concentration from the Am and determining the x-ray yields. The Pu derived U x-ray peaks of La1, Lb1, Lg1 and Ll you see in the
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Dude
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#1241
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Trinitite Analysis: Uranium Decay Schemes
*U-238* Let's walk through Uranium Radioactive Decay Schemes, one U isotope at a time to clarify the reason we see certain peaks on spectroscopy scans. We use the convention in this science that:
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1240
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Taray, Is this a different apron? The accumulation times and dates are different and the spectra look different Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 4:22 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [XRF] Si pin
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Dude
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#1239
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Re: Trinitite
A closer look at a Gamma RaySpectrum scan of Red Trinitite? (see pics in first post of this thread). The picture and .mca attached are of a previous (19FED2020) scan of Red Trinitite In the photo you
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1238
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Here is the x ray apron file. Taray
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1236
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Guys Thanks for the tips Geo and I had a running commentary setup Next time mca files will follow Yep Rubbery feet is blocking heat loss Just din strike me.. I have a rounded block of metal which I
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1235
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Geo, It looked like a 1024 conversion gain. Most Si detectors will use 2048 even at the expense of counting time. Count time, FWHM, and noise can be traded off using peaking time¡its always
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Dude
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#1234
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Good to know that Thanks Dud.Some mass spectrometer test of Trinitite et. al results are out there on the internet, will gather a few and see if they are showing parent, decay and fission products
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1233
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
LOD depends on the element but in general the XRF limit of detection at best is 0.5 ppm and above, so for a ppb range element you¡¯ll need to do ICP/MS. That can also get stable element isotopic
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Dude
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#1232
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Re: Trinitite
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1231
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Re: Trinitite
I loaded the ZIP file to the c: documents/raddecay folder and extracted it there. Then did a shortcut of the exe file to the desktop. You should be able to select where to install when you extract it.
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Dude
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#1230
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Dud, with the XRF gun, what is the likelihood of detecting a unique element in a large Trinitite sample, when the element dispersed and total weight is 1x10e-9 grams? Say the sample was 28 grams. Geo
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1229
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
The same scale expansion can be done selecting the Select View box on the tool bar. The cursor changes to a + and by holding the left mouse button you can select the range to expand. Click the < >
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Dude
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#1228
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Dude, I did the energy cal here when I built it. Used test sources. Geo To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 28, 2020 12:42:20 PM Subject: Re: [XRF] Si pin xrf ..1st go Nice clean spectra,
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1227
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Re: Si pin xrf ..1st go
Nice clean spectra, lookin¡¯ good. You can take the conversion gain up to 2048 channels which will get a bit more resolution at the expense of a longer count time. If you are talking about a peak
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Dude
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#1226
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