ABSTRACT
Non-destructive techniques for analysis of components of a sample are very useful, and indeed essential, when the samples are unique, such as works of art, including not only pieces exhibited and preserved in museums, but also archaeological structures belonging to a historical and cultural heritage. X-ray fluorescence analysis is a suitable technique for these kinds of pieces and objects that must neither be damaged nor moved. In this work, an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRFS), assembled at the University of Extremadura (Badajoz, Spain), has been applied to the study of pigments in the decorative paints of modern ceramics of known and unknown origins.
ABSTRACT
Atomic force microscopy images are usually affected by different kinds of artifacts due to either the microscope design and operation mode or external environmental factors. Optical interferences between the laser light reflected off the top of the cantilever and the light scattered by the surface in the same direction is one of the most frequent sources of height artifact in contact (and occasionally non-contact) images. They are present when imaging highly reflective surfaces, or even when imaging non-reflective materials deposited onto reflective ones. In this study interference patterns have been obtained with a highly polished stainless steel planchet. The influence of these artifacts in surface roughness measurements is discussed, and a semi-quantitative method based on the fast Fourier transform technique is proposed to remove the artifacts from the images. This method improves the results obtained by applying the usual flattening routines.
