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 If a piece of information is incorrect, a link outdated, or the presentation choppy or unclear, the user can just click "Edit Page" at the bottom and then fix the mistake.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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FW: [XRF] 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Geo,
I don¡¯t see how normalizing accounts for flux? There are 2 different count times and 2 different activities? And a filter. The 1.6 mm Al ¡°filter¡± will drop the flux by a factor of 0.5. The
By
Dude
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#1513
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Aaaaaaand there's this, with pictures!
http://www.diyphysics.com/2013/01/20/80-%C2%B5ci-americium-241-sources-inside-old-pyrotronics-f35a-smoke-detectors/
[email protected]> wrote:
By
Nick Andrews
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#1512
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Also this in a document. Looks like the same incident, but was listed
twice in a compiled accident report from Hanford or somewhere in the 90s.
[email protected]> wrote:
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Nick Andrews
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#1511
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1510
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
I found this in an email form one of the old groups, by the illustrious Mr
Schoner:
There are two versions being sold. The F5-B has a steel ring inside that
slips out once the unit is taken apart. It
By
Nick Andrews
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#1509
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Searching for Ag lines in the Pyro source, and how that relates to "bifurcated lines" from a previous question/post.
Remove
Browse ¡
Cancel
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1508
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
What thickness Al filter are you using? Why normalize to the Am peak? Just use the same count time to see what the attenuation factor is for the same source. What is the Peak Time ¡°rise
By
Dude
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#1507
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
SILVER:
Here are my working notes on the domestic (USA) residential units sold by Walmart, which by (USA) can contain "less than 1 uCi Am-241". This is part of the same series this last weekend, and
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1506
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Geo
Still haven¡¯t figured out how to superimpose .
I really have to learn that
Anytime Taray.
We can do by eMail or telephone, then you can later write a tutorial for the group.
Geo
To:
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1505
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Nick, evidently there are 2 sources in each Pyro. This test only used the low activity ones, which are usually thrown away as useless by the folks that recycle them. NOT the 80X stronger big
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1504
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Good catch Charles, I would rather it BE Ag actually,
Geo
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1503
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
A question raised by Taray's comment about activity. If I recall, the Pyro
units had two different sized foils in them. Which one are you using? Can
activity differences be normalized by simply
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Nick Andrews
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#1502
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Charles / Geo
I agree it¡¯s the Ag La1 and probably covering up any Ar. Also the Cu noted is actually the Au Ll with the Au Lg1 looking like it may be the low energy tail on the 13.9 Np
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Dude
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#1501
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Obviously the Pyro is much cleaner. Mostly due to the added filters and other manufacturing differences between vintage low volume commercial productions vs. today's mass produced but more safety
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1500
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
GeoStill haven¡¯t figured ?out?how to superimpose .I really have to learn that?BTW besides geometry ,the activity of both sources may not be the same.Taray
By
taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1499
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
I believe your Ar is actually Ag.
Charles
By
Charles David Young
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#1498
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Re: 59.5keV spectrum cleanup
This is interesting! I haven't made time to run any tests yet on mine,
sorry. I also have access to a Pyrotronics unit, so it would be
interesting to test and compare data, and see how consistent
By
Nick Andrews
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#1497
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59.5keV spectrum cleanup
Analyzing raw spectrum from different Am exciter source.
Brought about for the need of a clean(er) Am spectra preferably 59.5 keV alone or at least highly accentuated.
First up: compare Domestic
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1496
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Re: Supplements exposed
Not that I think is water based. Better use silicone gel, especially "dielectric silicone gel" like we use for optical coupling PMTs. Can you get that there? It will be fine around HV. Also 100%
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1495
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Re: Supplements exposed
GeoAl and Cu excellent choices?like u said beforeI am using lead ?blocks mainly?but it still helps somewhat.It¡¯s the only chunky thing I have borrowed from my lead castle.
Only issue the surface
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1494
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