An XRD/XRF instrument for the microanalysis of rocks and minerals

Abstract

A breadboard setup constructed at MOXTEK, Inc., is capable of capturing both x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) information simultaneously using a charge-coupled device (CCD) as the x-ray detector. This preliminary setup will lead to a prototype simultaneous XRD/XRF instrument. NASA is funding the instrument's construction because of its capabilities and small size; it could be used for future Mars missions for analysis of rocks. The instrument uses a CCD to capture both the energy and the spatial information of an incoming x-ray. This is possible because each pixel acts as a spatially addressable energy-dispersive detector. A powdered sample of material is placed in front of the CCD, which in turn is bombarded by a collimated x-ray beam. The instrument's critical features-namely the x-ray source, collimation optics and x-ray transparent windows-allow for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, mounting the sample outside the CCD camera. In this paper the instrument's design parameters as well as the properties of both a front-side-illuminated (FSI) CCD and backside illuminated (BSI) CCD as x-ray detectors are investigated.

A laboratory X-ray microbeam for combined X-ray diffraction and fluorescence measurements

“…The camera captures both the energy and the spatial information of each incoming X-ray. It is therefore possible to extract both XRD and XRF information with the help of sorting algorithms (Livet et al, 2000;Cornaby et al, 2001). The so-called droplet algorithm (Livet et al, 2000) is particularly useful to filter the diffraction images to remove noise of any kind (sample fluorescence, camera electronic and readout noise).…”

Analytical characterization of a new mobile X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction instrument combined with a pigment identification case study

“…A few commercial companies (e.g. CHEMIN and MOXTEK) started manufacturing portable X-ray fluorescence/X-ray diffraction (XRF/XRD) instruments starting from 2000 and the development of their own, improved, instruments is still ongoing [15][16][17]. Recently, a number of companies (e.g.…”

“…It is a new mobile device for simultaneous determination of the elemental constituents by XRF and of the mineral phases Spectrochimica Acta Part B 110 (2015) [14][15][16][17][18][19] by XRD. The surface monitor works on a broad range of surfaces, without the need of any sample preparation.…”

Determination of kernel emission spectrum of a mini X‐ray tube for EDXRF applications

“…Given that this type of device is currently used to capture images of chemical elements via energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF) scanning as well as a new type of in vivo application, it is necessary to know the exact short‐distance emission spectrum of this type of X‐ray tube. This will allow us to determine the density of the energy flux on a particular sample to be analyzed via EDXRF.…”