Under an electron beam, the atoms constituting the matter transmit X-rays with a characteristic energy for each element. This analysis allows to identify minor and major chemical elements constituting a material..
Applications:
Identification of the matter components (pigments, metals, stones, glass, etc.), of corrosion products, provenance study, etc. Qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis.
Under an accelerated proton beam, atoms constituting matter transmit characteristic X-rays. These X-rays are detected with specialised sensors allowing to obtain elemental composition of a material with major components (>10%), minor components (<10%) and traces (<1%). This is a Non Destructive Analysis (NDA).
Applications:
Specific application to the study of vitreous and metallic materials (composition and provenance study). Qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Under an electron beam, atoms constituting matter transmit characteristic X-rays that are detected according their wavelength. This analysis gives access to the composition of the material with major, minor and traces elements.
Applications:
Identification of the matter components (pigments, metals, stones, etc.), of the corrosion products, provenance study, etc. Qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Under a laser beam, the material is disintegrated in the form of nanoparticles then sent in a plasma. This plasma is accelerated towards a mass spectrometer to analyse the elements constituting the material.
Applications:
Specific application to metals and glasses. Allows to obtain very precise chemical composition. This technique is used to detect (when necessary) trace elements (for gold especially).