IPERION HSIntegrating Platforms for the European Research Infrastructure ON Heritage Science

MTA-Atomki

The Laboratory of Ion Beam Applications at MTA Atomki offers complex ion beam analytical investigations at the scanning nuclear microprobe facility. As cultural heritage samples are often not uniform, the available beam size down to 1 μm in vacuum provides an important tool for the determination of concentration and distribution of elements with high lateral resolution. The microprobe is equipped with a 5-axis goniometer (X-Y-Z translations and two rotations), optical microscope, camera and several radiation and particle detectors. The available analytical techniques for heritage materials are particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), particle induced γ-ray emission (PIGE) and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA). The detectable elements cover the whole H–U range, although the sensitivities vary. Besides the quantitative elemental composition and distributions, the depth profile can also be determined in specific cases. An external micro-beam arrangement is also available for artefacts of bigger sizes or sensitive nature, also with mapping (some of the methods do not apply here).

Contact person
Name: Zita Szikszai
Emailszikszai@atomki.mta.hu