Secondary ion mass spectrometry in art and archaeology

Applications of SIMS to cultural heritage studies

“…Depth profiling has been a common technique for several years in the study of the deterioration of glass objects [6][7][8][9][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Investigations have shown that exposure to a moist environment causes the glass to deteriorate, through both chemical and structural changes.…”

“…SIMS has contributed to a diverse range of problems including technology and authenticity, origin and provenance, degradation processes, such as corrosion and weathering, and conservation [6][7][8][9]. At first sight, the requirements of SIMS and of chemical analysis in the area of cultural heritage appear to be diametrically opposed.…”

ToF‐SIMS Study of Organic Materials in Cultural Heritage: Identification and Chemical Imaging

“…Mostly used for elemental analyses and depth profiling, it is particularly relevant for many different fields of research including cultural heritage studies. Reviews of its use for the study of ancient glasses or metal artefacts already exist in the literature [Spoto 2000, Darque-Ceretti and Aucouturier 2004, Dowsett and Adriaens 2004, Adriens and Dowsett 2006, Anderle et al 2006, McPhail 2006, but as only elemental information is obtained, these studies are limited to inorganic materials.Nevertheless, the introduction of time-of-flight (ToF) analysers for SIMS analyses at the beginning of the 1980s, as well as the recent development of liquid ion sources delivering cluster projectiles now permit the analysis of organic materials with high sensitivity and selectivity. Moreover, thanks to its excellent lateral resolution (in the order of micrometres), and its minimal sample preparation, ToF-SIMS has become the reference technique for chemical imaging by mass spectrometry.…”

“…Mostly used for elemental analyses and depth profiling, it is particularly relevant for many different fields of research including cultural heritage studies. Reviews of its use for the study of ancient glasses or metal artefacts already exist in the literature [Spoto 2000, Darque-Ceretti and Aucouturier 2004, Dowsett and Adriaens 2004, Adriens and Dowsett 2006, Anderle et al 2006, McPhail 2006, but as only elemental information is obtained, these studies are limited to inorganic materials.…”

Non-destructive analysis and testing of museum objects: An overview of 5 years of research

“…Advanced analytical methods also allow us to perform authenticity studies or contribute to the development of simple diagnostic techniques necessary for practical applied conservation [1,2]. The analytical methods used in this field of research are identical with those used at the cutting edge of modern science [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Techniques developed for advanced physics, chemistry and biology have a commonality of application to both ancient and modern materials, since problems encountered in both the advanced technology and cultural heritage areas are similar.…”