Lars Lühl

Reconstruction of thickness and composition of stratified materials by means of 3D micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

The recently developed 3D micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (3D Micro-XRF) enables three-dimensional resolved, nondestructive investigation of elemental distribution in samples in the micrometer regime. Establishing a reliable quantification procedure is the precondition to render this spectroscopic method into a true analytical tool. One prominent field of application is the investigation of stratified material. A procedure for the quantitative reconstruction of the composition of stratified material by means of 3D Micro-XRF is proposed and validated. With the procedure, it is now possible to determine nondestructively the chemical composition and the thickness of layers. As no adequate stratified reference samples were available for validation, stratified reference material has been developed that is appropriate for 3D Micro-XRF or other depth-sensitive X-ray techniques.

A compact 3D micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometer with X-ray tube excitation for archaeometric applications

In this work, the applicability of a new 3D micro X-ray fluorescence (3D Micro-XRF) laboratory spectrometer for the investigation of historical glass objects is demonstrated. The non-destructiveness of the technique and the possibility to measure three-dimensionally resolved fluorescence renders this technique into a suitable tool for the analysis of cultural heritage objects. Although absorption and resolution effects complicate qualitative analysis of the data, layered structures can be distinguished from homogeneous samples without the need for full quantification. Different manufacturing techniques were studied in this work with the help of hand-made reference samples. With the gained knowledge it could be shown for the investigated historical glass object, that black enamel as a stained glass contour colour was used in a cold painting. The object was not fired after the application of the black enamel, but instead the adhesion of the paint was solely provided through organic binding agents and the backing with metal foils. Thus, for the manufacturing of the object, a mixture of cold painting technique with a stained glass color was used. Quantitative measurements with a 3D Micro-XRF setup at the Berlin synchrotron BESSY II confirm the assumptions drawn on the basis of the qualitative investigation with the 3D Micro-XRF spectrometer with X-ray tube excitation.

Three-dimensional chemical mapping with a confocal XRF setup.

A new approach for the nondestructive reconstruction of stratified systems with constant elemental composition but with varying chemical compounds has been developed. The procedure is based on depth scans with a confocal X-ray fluorescence setup at certain energies near absorption edges. These so-called marker energies, where XAFS signals of the involved chemical compounds differ significantly, can also be used to uncover the chemical composition and its topology. A prominent field of application is homogeneous material that is degraded due to chemical reactions like oxidation or reduction. A procedure for the semiquantitative reconstruction of stratified material by means of depth scans at marker energies is elaborated and validated and a three-dimensional mapping is presented.

Reconstruction Procedure for 3D Micro X-ray Absorption Fine Structure

A new approach for chemical speciation in stratified systems using 3D Micro-XAFS spectroscopy is developed by combining 3D Micro X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (3D Micro-XRF) and conventional X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy (XAFS). A prominent field of application is stratified materials within which depth-resolved chemical speciation is required. Measurements are collected in fluorescence mode which in general lead to distorted spectra due to absorption effects. Developing a reliable reconstruction algorithm for obtaining undistorted spectra for superficial and in-depth layers is proposed and validated. The developed algorithm calculates the attenuation coefficients of the analyte for the successive layers facilitating a new spectroscopic tool for three-dimensionally resolved nondestructive chemical speciation.

3D Micro-XRF for Cultural Heritage Objects: New Analysis Strategies for the Investigation of the Dead Sea Scrolls

A combination of 3D micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (3D micro-XRF) and micro-XRF was utilized for the investigation of a small collection of highly heterogeneous, partly degraded Dead Sea Scroll parchment samples from known excavation sites. The quantitative combination of the two techniques proves to be suitable for the identification of reliable marker elements which may be used for classification and provenance studies. With 3D micro-XRF, the three-dimensional nature, i.e. the depth-resolved elemental composition as well as density variations, of the samples was investigated and bromine could be identified as a suitable marker element. It is shown through a comparison of quantitative and semiquantitative values for the bromine content derived using both techniques that, for elements which are homogeneously distributed in the sample matrix, quantification with micro-XRF using a one-layer model is feasible. Thus, the possibility for routine provenance studies using portable micro-XRF instrumentation on a vast amount of samples, even on site, is obtained through this work.

Confocal XANES and the Attic Black Glaze: The Three-Stage Firing Process through Modern Reproduction

The decorated black- and red-figured Athenian vases (sixth and fifth century BC) and the plain black-glazed ware represent a milestone in our material culture due to their aesthetic and technological value; the Attic black glaze is of particular interest since it is a highly resistant potash-alumino-silicate glass, colored by magnetite nanocrystals (<200 nm). This study presents a new methodological approach for correlating the iron oxidation state in the black glaze layer with the manufacturing process by means of conventional and confocal X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES). The enhanced surface sensitivity of confocal XANES is combined with conventional XANES resulting in higher counting rates to reliably evaluate the iron oxidation state (Fe(3+)/ΣFe) of the surface layer. A detailed description of the new evaluation procedure is presented. The three-stage firing process was retraced by correlating selected attic black-glazed (BG) specimens from different periods (Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic) with laboratory reproductions. The modern BG specimens serving as reference samples were produced by following the three-stage firing process (i.e., under oxidizing-reducing-oxidizing (ORO) conditions) at different top temperatures, using clay suspensions of different particle size produced with treatment of raw illitic clays from Attica.

Development and characterization of sub-monolayer coatings as novel calibration samples for X-ray spectroscopy

Abstract With the advent of both modern X-ray fluorescence (XRF) methods and improved analytical reliability requirements the demand for suitable reference samples has increased. Especially in nanotechnology with the very low areal mass depositions, quantification becomes considerably more difficult. However, the availability of suited reference samples is drastically lower than the demand. Physical vapor deposition techniques have been enhanced significantly in the last decade driven by the need for extremely precise film parameters in multilayer production. We have applied those techniques for the development of layer-like reference samples with mass depositions in the ng-range and well below for Ca, Cu, Pb, Mo, Pd, Pb, La, Fe and Ni. Numerous other elements would also be possible. Several types of reference samples were fabricated: multi-elemental layer and extremely low (sub-monolayer) samples for various applications in XRF and total-reflection XRF analysis. Those samples were characterized and compared at three different synchrotron radiation beamlines at the BESSY II electron storage ring employing the reference-free XRF approach based on physically calibrated instrumentation. In addition, the homogeneity of the multi-elemental coatings was checked at the P04 beamline at DESY. The measurements demonstrate the high precision achieved in the manufacturing process as well as the versatility of application fields for the presented reference samples.

Development of a scanning transmission x-ray microscope for the beamline P04 at PETRA III DESY

We present a scanning transmission x-ray microscope (STXM) built on top of our existing modular platform for high resolution imaging experiments. This platform consists of up to three separate vacuum chambers and custom designed piezo stages. These piezo stages are able to move precisely in x-, y- and z-direction, this makes it possible to adjust the components for different imaging modes. During recent experiments the endstation was operated mainly as a transmission x-ray microscope (TXM) [1, 2].