Analysis of art objects by means of ion beam induced luminescence

Abstract

The impact of energetic ions on solid samples gives rise to the emission of visible light owing to the electronic excitation of intrinsic defects or extrinsic impurities. The intensity and position of the emission features provide information on the nature of the luminescence centers and on their chemical environments. This makes ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) a useful complement to other ion beam analyses, like PIXE, in the cultural heritage field in characterizing the composition and the provenience of art objects. In the present paper, IBIL measurements have been performed on inorganic pigments for underlying the complementary role played by IBIL in the analysis of artistic works. Some blue and red pigment has been presented as case study.