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 If a piece of information is incorrect, a link outdated, or the presentation choppy or unclear, the user can just click "Edit Page" at the bottom and then fix the mistake.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: Xrf old faucet
" Another thing The plastic mount is a tape reel with a hole in the center Perfect of samples to be placed on top " Good idea. Positioning is critical. Geo To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, November
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1685
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Re: Xrf old faucet
Another thing?The plastic mount is a tape?reel with a?hole in the centerPerfect of samples to be placed on topThe pic of the tap is without the reelIt is just an object to help me take a pic shotIn
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1684
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Re: Xrf old faucet
Thanks for the interesting report. Also on the old forum a member took scraping from white deposits left in the burner of his cooking stove, In the outside environment I take samples from cracks and
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1683
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Re: Xrf old faucet
.. ?plastic holder mount. It was just perfect to align ?odd shaped samples It has been my usual practice until I discovered the hidden secrets of plastics Taray
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1682
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Xrf old faucet
Hi guys I have done this before in the old forum This time with better results My faucet spout has a silvery shiny surface with some mottling.Blocked by water deposits due water stagnation. But I have
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1681
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Re: Uranium Ore , Depleted Uranium, Natural Uranium (Unat) Compared
UO2- High Energy "Gamma Spectrum Analysis" (no exciter, looking at natural radioactivity of U-238 and now U-235 decay). Based upon the U-235 being either of natural abundance or depleted to some
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1680
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Re: Uranium Ore , Depleted Uranium, Natural Uranium (Unat) Compared
UO2- Low Energy "Gamma Spectrum Analysis" (no exciter, looking at natural radioactivity of U-238 decay). Picture is self explanatory, as always comments, correction, questions and discussion welcomed.
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1679
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Re: Uranium Ore , Depleted Uranium, Natural Uranium (Unat) Compared
UO2- Intro Uranium Dioxide is a man made chemical which has been used for centuries for numerous purposes. In modern times it is made quite pure, that is the uranium atoms have been removed from
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1678
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Eu is enriched in the Petaca district rare minerals, but it is still pretty low. Most of the minerals have an average Eu2O3 of around 0.2%, as shown by microprobe analyses. Surprisingly, columbite has
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WILLIAM S Dubyk
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#1677
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Dave, Geo had one left last I checked and he¡¯s about the cheapest I¡¯ve seen¡I mean he¡¯s not cheap its cheap, well you know what I mean. Dud Sent: Monday, November 9, 2020 5:18 PM To:
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Dude
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#1676
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Rock with Niobium and maybe Tantalum, home made exciter. Light elements such as silicon don't register well.
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1675
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Dud: I suspected as such, but had to ask. Thank you! Any other *affordable* high-resolution XRF detectors? RAP-47 is my best at present. Suggestions???? Dave - W?LEV
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W0LEV
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#1674
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
We¡¯re talking about ppm concentrations not pure 100% Eu2O3 try that in a rock matrix Dud Sent: Monday, November 9, 2020 2:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [XRF] Phosphorescent Calcite Even the
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Dude
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#1673
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Even the pro model XRF guns and cabinet machines go right for the Eu L lines: This is one of my amateur scans-
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1672
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Dave, I doubt it. Using a 50Kv x-ray tube the binding energy of Eu is 48.5 KeV so it¡¯ going to get a poor activation and because it¡¯s a very low impurity concentration it will be hard to see in
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Dude
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#1671
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Re: Chinese water filter analysis
Geo, Pb and sulfur form part of the vulcanization process to give flexibility and strength to the rubber. In plastics it softens it and makes it flexible yet still retains its shape. Dud Sent: Monday,
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Dude
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#1670
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Re: Chinese water filter analysis
Taray, We have been using thin zip lock bags for our quick and dirty soils measurements. There is a very slight reduction in the real low energies but it doesn¡¯t affect the readings. Dud Sent:
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Dude
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#1669
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Re: Chinese water filter analysis
Good scientific procedures and results Taray ¨C well done Dud Sent: Monday, November 9, 2020 5:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [XRF] Chinese water filter analysis Hi guys Repeated this test with
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Dude
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#1668
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Re: Phosphorescent Calcite
Geo, Pretty much the same thing but with a twist. It occurs with the valance band outer most electrons in atoms, molecules and crystals. In this case it¡¯s a crystal center with an activator element
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Dude
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#1667
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Re: Chinese water filter analysis
" Remember telling me about rubber automobile before. Couldn¡¯t figure out where to find one really.." OK here's a confession. Look behind a automobile epair garage or oil change business, for scraps
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1666
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