SEM-EDS microanalysis in cultural heritage and archaeology: thickness effects and measurement strategy for ultrathin glass and metal fragments and particles |
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| Daniele Moro, Gianfranco Ulian, Giovanni Valdrè |
- Abstract:
- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) is a powerful technique when both morphology and chemical information of a sample are desired at the microscale. However, when dealing with micrometre-scale materials, such as glass and metal fragments, as often found in cultural heritage and archaeology, several effects must be considered to avoid quantification errors. In the present work, a study of the thickness and shape effect on SEM-EDS microanalysis of ultrathin glass and metal alloys fragments by means of Monte Carlo simulations is presented. Different kind of glasses with elongated shapes, square section and thicknesses from 0.1 to 10 μm, and some gold metal alloys were simulated in realistic experimental conditions, using electron beam energies of 5, 15 and 25 keV. The strong influence of the fragments shape and thickness on the detected EDS X-ray intensity can be used to devise an appropriate measurement strategy.
- Download:
- IMEKO-TC4-METROARCHAEO-2019-12.pdf
- DOI:
- -
- Event details
- IMEKO TC:
- TC4
- Event name:
- TC4 MetroArchaeo 2019
- Title:
IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage
- Place:
- Florence, ITALY
- Time:
- 04 December 2019 - 06 December 2019