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 If a piece of information is incorrect, a link outdated, or the presentation choppy or unclear, the user can just click "Edit Page" at the bottom and then fix the mistake.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: Proportional Counters and Preamps
" Geo - I know you design a lot of things. I'm assuming that because of the capacitance issues, normal breadboarding is out of the question. For prototyping these kinds of circuits do you use
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1910
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Re: Proportional Counters and Preamps
BTW, I recently obtained a GE CZT detector array (similar to: https://www.ebay.com/itm/GE-Healthcare-CdZnTe-CZT-Gamma-Radiation-Detector/143814999062 (
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Soren
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#1909
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Re: Proportional Counters and Preamps
Thanks for all this discussion. It looks like there are many things to consider - which I enjoy because each potential problem is an opportunity to learn about some aspect of electronics theory that I
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Soren
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#1908
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Re: modelling clay
Thanks Taray, good on the calcium, yes it is definitely in the range of a Si-PIN, Usually the peak is cluttered and had to see in dense objects but just the other day there was a sample here that was
By
GEOelectronics@...
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#1907
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modelling clay
Hi guys
I sometimes? use? modelling clay as a mount to hold odd shape samples .
This "clay"? is usually made of? ?calcium salts,petroleum jelly and aliphatic? acids.
This xrf is? for a red
By
taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1906
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
Thanks for the feedback
I guess tough spectrums are a good exercise for learning and applying xrf
Obsidian is similar to Trinitite??in a way
Taray
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1905
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
Yeah this is a weird one.
The Fe, Pb, and Ni look ok but the Rb appears to be Pa at 133 with the Np sitting next to it at 13.9 and again at 17.7. The Pa .again appears with your Y for a Kb1 of 17.7
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Dude
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#1904
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
OK UK.
It's interesting how much stuff is in the ground, like Eu in original Trinity sand. Not something you think about normally. Yet we still see the activated Eu-152 which has already passed 5.5
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1903
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Re: Proportional Counters and Preamps
"
Ordinary refrigeration grade Freon, R22, is also a popular choice for PC counters (Carbon, Chlorine and Fluorine)"
I didn't know that Randall. Would that be sealed or gas-flow? Geez would that
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1902
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
Did you mention or know the source region where the obsidian was collected??United Kingdom.,if not mistaken.
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1901
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Re: Proportional Counters and Preamps
Right you are Geo,
( BTW, I meant personal burnout - it was getting late)
I woke up this morning thinking about the ways the PC chamber design could ruin a perfect world.
It needs to be small in
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Randall Buck
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#1900
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
No problem. I didn't look at your analysis on purpose.
When things slow down, we can work on your backscatter from the source to reduce it. No rush, still lots to be found as-is.
Did you mention
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1899
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
GeoYes I do see that solitary Ni peak sometimes.Ok now I ¡®m awareI thought I saw Ag too but din want to commit myself?Otherwise thinking?I will be?in front?of the firing squad?Taray
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1898
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Re: Xrf old faucet
GeoI need lots of AC for my experiments.Bought some online thinking it is not freely available.I remember some aquarium filters have a certain black layer probably ACI will check out if the aquarium
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1897
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Re: Trinitite
RE Tower-Metal
Follow up on the all metal pieces looking at high energies using a solid 2"X2" NaI(Tl) in Gamma Spec mode (no exciter).
The MCA used is a Spectrum Techniques UCS, and its .spu files
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1896
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
Fe
Ni (could be from sensor body)
Pb
possible
Ag
In
Ba
Geo
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1895
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Re: Xrf obsidian rock
Here is the mca which I can only post on reply mode on my iPhone?
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1894
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Xrf obsidian rock
Hi guys
Here is an xrf of a cut and polished obsidian rock.
It is brownish black and glassy.
There are several peaks
Some appear to fall within the Compton scatter region
I attempted to identify
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#1893
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Re: Proportional Counters and Preamps
Soren, don't forget to??also?load your preamp studies to our group called:
[email protected] | Topics ( /g/GEO-Preamplifiers/topics )
Geo
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1892
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Re: Xrf old faucet
Thanks for that update Taray.
Activated charcoal is available in USA pretty inexpensive too. The easy way is from a pet fish supplier, because it is in bulk used in aquariums for filtering.
The
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GEOelectronics@...
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#1891
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