WDXRF Laboratory

The Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Laboratory houses a Thermo Scientific ARL Perform'X XRF system running Oxsas and Uniquant software. The lab is equipped with a Herzog TP20 200kN pellet press for making samples from powders. There is also a Claisse M4 gas fusion furnace for the production of fused beads.

XRF is used for the analysis of bulk samples and provides a rapid, non-destructive, low-cost method for determining the elemental composition of a sample. Bombarding a sample with an X-ray beam and collecting the X-rays that are re-emitted, it is more sensitive than the X-ray spectrometer in the electron microscopes and can detect elements down to the 10-parts-per-million level or less. It provides a highly quantitative analysis which is very useful when determining trace concentrations in minerals and other materials.