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 If a piece of information is incorrect, a link outdated, or the presentation choppy or unclear, the user can just click "Edit Page" at the bottom and then fix the mistake.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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Locked
Re: Skimming angle XRF- Experiment
.mca files for the galena encrustation. I should have labeled the picture of the sample better- that is a mm ruler, not inches! Geo
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2116
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Edited
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Locked
Re: Skimming angle XRF- Experiment
Back to collimated beam and sensor. Examining encrustation on corner of a galena crystal.
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2110
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Locked
Re: Skimming angle XRF- Experiment
" How do you control the beam angle? What accuracy can you set it to and how is that measured. *Can you run a shot with and without the detector collimator I¡¯d like to see the difference.* Dud" Same
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2108
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Re: Am241 beam collimator
Good idea Taray. Geo To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2021 10:42:52 AM Subject: [XRF] Am241 beam collimator Hi guys Two common ways for Am241 housing is coaxial and converging plates Here
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2107
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Am241 beam collimator
Hi guys Two common ways for Am241 housing is coaxial and converging plates Here is an another way I am toying round. Using radionuclide lead pigs I manage to squeeze 4 buttons and made a pair The
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#2106
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Re: This Groups.io memory problems
Don't panic Taray, your stuff is good to retain original,becuase it shows the steps for students. Only duplicates should be removed, or of possible reduced in size if that even applies. George To:
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2105
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Re: This Groups.io memory problems
GeoI think we can minimize on?sending pics ?of Mca files?I think ?some of my??pic ?mca?files ?in the database can be deleted?Taray
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#2104
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This Groups.io memory problems
Yesterday I tried to upload some documents concerning the Tel-X-Ometer and its copper target tube generator, the whole post was rejected by the system with a warning about exceeding the free memory
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2103
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Am is not cleaner than a tube with all the Np interference. A tube allows you to target the K edges and functions to selectively target a Z range of elements. To do that with a isotopic source you
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Dude
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#2099
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Locked
Re: Skimming angle XRF- Experiment
Randall said: "Somehow, I had the impression that the exciting beam was broadside and the low, skimming angle was from the sample shim towards the sensor." To answer this point, yes that arrangement
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2097
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Locked
Re: Skimming angle XRF- Experiment
This is the story of the blue rock. I think this is from the Blanchard mine from a field trip there (many thanks to our hosts, the NM Rock and Mineral Club who have the patent on that mine). . It is
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2094
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Pic of AmX8 on Si-PIN with the tungsten collimator still attached and results. The target was a pure silver stamp, pressed against the front of the RapCap.
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2093
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Taray I'm experimenting with a tube generator for education, and that's the "beam". Otherwise I use the AmX8 extensively. It is still the best way from a number of standpoints, and I will continue
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2092
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Locked
Re: Skimming angle XRF- Experiment
Mo-Re metal alloy "stamp" .002" thick. Molybdenum-Rhenium Skimming, tried at 2 ( 22kV@20uA ) 22kV @ 20uA then again at 15uA. Same patterns for both, the higher current just gave higher peaks. Pictures
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2091
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Geo This thing is very sensitive??indeed The size,distance??and??Z of??any mount or base matters??besides the Am button arrangement? ?I have removed all supporting clips now ?I am using
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#2090
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Thanks for that update Taray. Your system is very sensitive to Fe. Have you tried Iron supplement pills or iron-added cereal food? I tried calcium pills before but no luck, now with the new
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2089
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
I repeated the generic clopidogrel tablets This time I crushed them to make it homogeneous and a longer count time Chose a linear scale to make it. proportional . This time only Fe is seen But this
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#2088
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Edited
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Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (WDXRF Spectrometer)
Up until now, the main subject being discussed on this group has been technically called ED-XRF. The ED is for energy dispersive. Specifically simultaneous ED, since the excitation produces a spectrum
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GEOelectronics@...
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#2087
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Dud I too have some difficulty differentiating generics from original . I rely??on big company names ,price and country of manufacture. India and China famous for cheap generics . ?The weight
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taray singh <sukhjez@...>
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#2084
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Re: Supplements exposed :filling materials of pharmaceuticals
Very interesting on the aspirin Both have about the same Rh but the Ca is way different, amongst other things. I may have to try this although the levels may be below my delectability. I have some
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Dude
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#2079
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