Low-background gamma spectrometry and neutron diffraction in the study of stony meteorites

Abstract

Non-destructive characterisation of meteorites is here performed on a stony meteorite. The identification of the sample is performed by low-background γ-ray spectrometry in order to determine the presence of certain cosmogenic radionuclides, whereas a mineralogical phase quantitative analysis is carried out by Time-of-Flight Neutron Diffraction (ToF-ND) on the sample as-it-is. The protocol is then validated by applying micro-Raman Spectroscopy (μRS) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). This paper is focused on γ-ray spectrometry, proving the meteoric origin of the sample, and it also presents some preliminary results of ToF-ND.