PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission): A non-destructive analysis method adapted to the thin decorative coatings of antique ceramics

Recent trends in study of Greek and Roman potteries have been to develop non-abrasive methods to determine the elemental composition of their thin coatings. This paper investigates the potential of PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission) in this field. This technique has been currently used to determine the bulk elemental composition of several types of artifacts because of its fast and simultaneous ability to measure a large number of elements with good accuracy and without any damage to the sample. However, until now it has never been applied to the measurement of the composition of thin layers owing to the difficulty in limiting the depth of analysis to the layer thickness. In this paper, we show, through a comparative study of reference clay pellets and thin coatings of Terra Sigillata ceramics that reducing the energy of the particle beam the problem can be solved. The decrease of proton energy from 3 MeV (standard condition) to 1.5 MeV allowed us to limit the analyzed depth to the coating thickness without significant alteration of the results. Quantitative elemental analysis remains possible and the quality of results is similar to the one obtained from electron microprobe.