Application of a new noncryogenic x-ray detector in portable instruments for archaeometric analyses

A new noncryogenic x-ray detection module is proposed for portable instruments used in nondestructive analyses on artistic and archaeological samples. The detection module, based on a silicon drift detector (SDD) cooled by a Peltier element, offers a typical energy resolution better than 160 eV full width at half maximum at 6 keV and 135 eV at 2.3 keV, measured at −15 °C and 2 μs of shaping time. A first prototype of portable energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer based on a SDD module and a miniaturized x-ray generator, has been developed. The results of several measurements carried out with the spectrometer in laboratory tests and on works of arts analyzed directly “on-the-field” are here presented.