X-ray Fluorescence Applications for the Study and Conservation of Cultural Heritage

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the applications of X-ray fluorescence for the study and conservation of cultural heritage. X-ray fluorescence has been used for some fifty years in the study and conservation of archaeological and historical objects yet, given the number of papers that are still published in this field, its capability of stimulating the creativity of scientists, conservators, archaeologists, and art-historians is far from being exhausted. X-ray fluorescence has long been used for the investigation of archaeological and historical materials. The physical principles of X-ray fluorescence are simple and well known involving electronic transitions to be be induced in the inner shells of the atoms by electromagnetic radiation or charged particles of suitable energy, such transitions result in the emission of X-rays whose energy and intensity are related to the type and abundances of the atoms concerned. Due to the attenuation of the matter, only the X-rays emitted in the first layers under the surface can reach the detector. This chapter also aims at reviewing part of the considerable number of papers published so far with a special focus on the relationship between non-destructive and quantitative analysis. The criteria used by scientists to design the investigations are also considered, and examples are shown in which similar objects are approached, from the analytical point of view, in a totally different way.