Field-portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry: Past, present, and future

Abstract

The method of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, one of the oldest instrumental methods of analysis, dates its origins to the beginning of this century. The method has gone through many significant changes since then, including the advent of field-portable systems 30 years ago. The desire to bring the instrument to the field to perform sample analysis, rather than in the laboratory, is not new. On-site analysis is better for many reasons, most of which are economical; however, it was also for these same economical reasons that it could not be realized. Either the instruments simply could not function in the field, or they were prohibitively expensive. Ongoing technology developments, particularly recent ones in computer microchip and detector technology, has led to the design and production of battery-operated, field-portable X-ray analyzers. This led to a new analytical method, field-portable X-ray fluorescence (FPXRF). This method uses instruments that can routinely achieve analytical performance equal to that of conventional laboratory systems. The ever-increasing power of computers, and their miniaturization, permits packing more complex and powerful software into portable instruments. This trend will lead to instruments that will provide solutions and decisions rather than just analytical results. We will follow the development of the FPXRF analyzers from their origin and illustrate their analytical performance in typical applications. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Field Analyt Chem Technol 1: 317–329, 1997