Laboratory of Nuclear Techniques for Environment and Cultural Heritage LABEC, Florence

LABEC, Florence

Laboratory of Nuclear Techniques for Environment and Cultural Heritage

P.A.Mandò 21/11/2012 Symposium

Italy-Japan 2012 on Nuclear Physics

Since the mid 1980’s its “research goals” were changed to applications of Ion Beam Analysis, IBA

(mostly Particle-Induced X ray Emission, PIXE)

In Florence....

long standing tradition with PIXE (and IBA in general) applied to Cultural Heritage

This applied physics activity started during the Eighties with an old 3 MV Van de Graaff

single-ended accelerator

Until then, basic nuclear physics

activities had been still

carried out with this accelerator

a

elastically scattered particles (PESA)

X ray emission

(PIXE)

secondary particles emission or inelastic scattering of incident

ions

gamma ray emission (PIGE)

Particle – atom/nucleus interactions

interactions with atoms

interactions with nuclei

move of the Physics Department and INFN Unit to a new campus

• INFN and University create a new lab

• new 3 MV Tandetron, designed from the beginning to perform Accelerator Mass

Spectrometry (AMS) besides IBA

• the new laboratory, LABEC, is operational in May 2004

2002-2003

http://labec.fi.infn.it

© foto Luca Casonato Milano

© foto Luca Casonato Milano

The Tandetron facility at LABEC

IBA dual source

3 MV Tandetron

chopped beam line multi-angle

scattering chamber multipurpose IBA

vacuum chamber external beam (Cultural Heritage) high-energy

AMS spectrometer multi-sample

AMS source

external micro-beam external beam

(Environment)

technological developments

(electronics and process automation, data acquisition systems, detection setups, further beamlines)

methodological developments

(test of new ideas for application procedures)

Activities at LABEC

measurements

in the framework of both:

interdisciplinary research projects in collaboration with other Institutions (CNR, Cultural Heritage safeguard Institutions,

Environmental Protection Agencies, IAEA) and University Departments other than Physics Dpts

“internal” collaborations supporting other nuclear physics

groups (detector tests, radiation damage measurements, etc.)

LABEC personnel

Franco Lucarelli (head of the lab) + 6 physicists and 1 technician

permanent staff

+ 5 to 8 PhD students or post-docs

25-30% AMS

30% IBA for environmental problems 30-35% IBA for Cultural Heritage and

other applications 10% other

Beam time

however so far, at LABEC AMS only for ¹⁴ C

14

C, in turn, mainly for dating purposes

AMS at LABEC

The low-energy and high-energy AMS lines are

equipped with the necessary hardware to implement the measurement of ¹⁴ C, ¹⁰ Be, ²⁶ Al and ¹²⁹ I

~ 400 samples/year

Standard precision < 0.5%

(< 0.3% when required)

Overall background: ~ 55000 y equivalent

Archaeological diggings in downtown Florence (Palazzo Vecchio and surroundings)

Etruscan site diggings in Southern Tuscany

River sediments – the Abak Creek layers in Ethiopia

Artemidorus papyrus

The Rosano Crucifix

The frame of a tryptic by Ambrogio Lorenzetti

St.Francis’ relics in Cortona and Florence

17

Results

500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

Cortona_1 Cortona_3 Cortona_5 Cortona_6 Cortona_7 cuscino_1 cuscino_2 S.Croce_1 S.Croce_2 S.Croce_3 S.Croce_4 S.Croce_5 S.Croce cingolo

radiocarbon age (years BP)

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004);OxCal v3.10 Bronk Ramsey (2005); cub r:5 sd:12 prob usp[chron]

600CalAD 800CalAD 1000CalAD 1200CalAD 1400CalAD 1600CalAD Calibrated date

tonaca Cortona 857±18BP cuscino 1 915±40BP

cuscino 3 885±30BP

Tonaca S.Croce 666±18BP

cingolo S.Croce 852±34BP

NEWS @ Nature.com

Scientific American online

20

Exploiting the effect of nuclear explosions in atmosphere during the cold war

90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

year AD

pMCpMC (percent of Modern Carbon)

Reference curve for the

Boreal Emisphere

21

Many intersting applications in forensics and biology,

but these rapid variations can also be used to discover recent fakes of

contemporary art e.g. from the first

half of the XX century

Samples of fine paper produced in different years

100 120 140 160 180 200 220

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Anno

14C conc. (pMC)

Fine paper samples Bomb04NH1

The date found must be compatible with at least one date prior to production

Canvas samples from dated paintings

97 117 137 157 177 197 217

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Anno

14C conc. (pMC)

Tele

Bomb04NH1

Year reported on the painting

But...if the painting support is only compatible with a later period...

129.05 ± 0.68 pMC

90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200

1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

year AD

pMC

A canvas sample from a painting

initially attributed to Fernand Legér

Atmospheric aerosols

Impact on the

environment Impact on

human health Impact on cultural heritage

Solid or liquid particles with a diameter from 10

to 10

μ m

• natural or anthropic sources

• primary or secondary origin

What do we need to study aerosols

Many good data concerning:

• PM concentration and composition

• size distribution

• optical properties

• time and space evolution

OUTPUT

Quantification and identification of PM

emissions sources

Contribution to climate models to assess the role of atmospheric

aerosols in

radiative forcing Contribution to

pollution

abatement

policies to

improve air

qualitity

Higher-Z elements X ray detector

(Si(Li))

Light elements X ray detector (SDD)

Faraday cup

Gamma ray det. HPGe

He

PIXE-PIGE external set-up at LABEC

for aerosol composition measurements

LABEC aerosol group research projects

Local impact:

• Study of PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in Tuscany (PATOS, PATOS 2)

and in major Italian towns, Barcelona, Sevilla, Elche, Alicante, London, Japan

Global impact:

• EPICA - European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica

• TALDICE - TALos Dome Ice CorE

• ANDRILL - Antarctic Geological Drilling

• AMMA - African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis

• MAIL - Marine Aerosol in the Island of Lampedusa

• DIRIGIBILE ITALIA (multidisciplinary study of climate change in Arctic region)

Environmental monitoring at cultural heritage sites Indoor pollution/Personal exposure:

• HEARTS - Health Effects And Risks of Transport Systems

Identification of emissions from industries

 Traffic emissions

 also natural sources are identified (e.g. marine aerosol, Saharan dust transport, etc.)

1 Hour

0 1 2 3 4 5

3.00 15.00 3.00 15.00 3.00 15.00 3.00 15.00 3.00 15.00 3.00 15.00 3.00 15.00

As Na K

g/m3

Montelupo Fiorentino: artistic glass industry

Continuous streaker sampler

July 9-10, 2006: fireworks to celebrate Italian soccer team

winning at the World Championship

0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000

18-6-07 0.00 20-6-07 0.00 22-6-07 0.00 24-6-07 0.00

ng/m3

K

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

18-6-07 0.00 20-6-07 0.00 22-6-07 0.00 24-6-07 0.00

ng/m3

Cu

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000

18-6-07 0.00 20-6-07 0.00 22-6-07 0.00 24-6-07 0.00

ng/m3

Sr

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

18-6-07 0.00 20-6-07 0.00 22-6-07 0.00 24-6-07 0.00

ng/m3

Ba

Las Hogueras

(Alicante, Spain)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

06/09/05 20/09/05 04/10/05 18/10/05 01/11/05 15/11/05 29/11/05 13/12/05 27/12/05 10/01/06 24/01/06 07/02/06 21/02/06 07/03/06 21/03/06 04/04/06 18/04/06 02/05/06 16/05/06 30/05/06 13/06/06 27/06/06 11/07/06 25/07/06 08/08/06 22/08/06 05/09/06 19/09/06 03/10/06

concentration (g/m3 )

marine aerosol biomass burning traffic

secondary nitrate secondary sulphate soil dust

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

06/09/05 20/09/05 04/10/05 18/10/05 01/11/05 15/11/05 29/11/05 13/12/05 27/12/05 10/01/06 24/01/06 07/02/06 21/02/06 07/03/06 21/03/06 04/04/06 18/04/06 02/05/06 16/05/06 30/05/06 13/06/06 27/06/06 11/07/06 25/07/06 08/08/06 22/08/06 05/09/06 19/09/06 03/10/06

PM10

Identification of pollution sources through

multivariate statistical

models

traffic 25%

secondary nitrate

12%

secondary sulphate

17%

marine aerosol

5%

biomass burning

23%

Daily samples, Capannori (Lucca), 2005-2006

from: S. Szidat, Science 323 (2009), 470 14

C fraction with respect to modern carbon:

~ 0 in the aerosols produced by fossil fuels

~ 1 in the aerosol of biogenic origin or from biomass burning

 Marker of pollution from fossil fuels burning

AMS ¹⁴ C measurements in aerosols

Ion Beam Analysis techniques

for Cultural Heritage

Material analysis in Archaeometry

• Specific information on single artworks

• More general information on historical trends, sources of supply, trade exchange routes in the past,....



Detection of degradation



Having knowledge of the original materials, in order to choose the techniques and materials for a conservative intervention

Why?

Art historians, archaeologists, historians of science and technology,....

Conservators and restorers

Using external beam set-ups we can investigate

in a totally non-destructive way the complete quantitative

composition of any kind of artwork

Analysis of semiprecious stone manufacts,

“Disc with star”, and jewel case, from “Collezione Medicea di Pietre Ornamentali”, Natural History Museum, Florence

External-beam PIXE analysis of the frontispiece of Pl.16,22 (XV century,

Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence)

...ancient illuminated manuscripts,

...historical documents,

Inks in Galileo’s manuscripts (Florence National Library) analysed by external PIXE

...drawings,

PIXE-PIGE analysis of a drawing on prepared paper, by Leonardo or his school

PIXE-PIGE analysis of a drawing on prepared paper, school of Verona, XVI cent.

…ancient embroideries,

Micro-PIXE and –PIGE analysis of gold threads of a Renaissance embroidery based on a cartoon by

Raffaellino del Garbo

…early photographs

PIXE-PIGE analysis of a print on metal plate of the XIX century

...paintings on wood or canvas

Micro-PIXE and -PIGE analysis of the

“Ritratto Trivulzio” by Antonello da Messina Differential PIXE and PIGE analysis of the

Madonna dei Fusi by Leonardo

Giorgio Vasari

Tavoletta with S.Lucia, from Pala Albergotti, Arezzo

Andrea Mantegna

Madonna col Bambino, oil on canvas, Accademia Carrara di Bergamo

...metal manufacts

PIXE and PESA analysis of some gilded chalices from the Museum of Casa Siviero,

Florence

...glazed terracottas,

External PIXE analysis of the

“Ritratto di fanciullo” by Luca Della Robbia – before restoration at the

Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence

44

45

46

Two dedicated external beamlines

beam size defined by collimation (Ø 0.2 ÷ 1 mm)

strong focusing system,

quadrupole doublet (Ø 8÷10 m)

External scanning microbeam line

magnetic scan of areas within the window

aperture

list-mode (E,x,y) DAQ

includes detection systems for PIXE, PIGE,

backward and forward particle scattering,

< 10 m beam size on target

ion induced luminescence (IBIL)

beam

Au L_α Pb L_α

Sn K Fe

Elemental mapping

The eye of the Virgin

The veil

Au L_α

Al

Si Pb L_α

2 mm

2 mm

Andrea Mantegna

Madonna col Bambino, oil on canvas, Bergamo

External microbeam line

full control of beam currents from a few nA down to ultra low (hundreds of particles/sec)

higher beam intensities 

elemental PIXE –PIGE maps also for trace elements (of great interest e.g. for geologists) ultra-low currents 

possibility of scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM)

tests of detectors response as a function of position

(through IBICC, ion beam induced charge collection)

External STIM set-up

STIM of a thin copper grid

map of higher-energy transmitted protons

map of lower-energy

transmitted protons

Ion lithography (with protons or even heavier ions) through beam-induced alteration of material

properties (optical, electrical, etc.) on selected zones “drawn” by the microbeam scan (material

properties are selectively altered in depth thanks to the Bragg peak)

Another achievement, exploiting IBMM

(Ion Beam Modification of Materials)

Electrostatic deflector beamline

(pulsed beam facility)

1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

140 120

100 80

60 40

20

MeV 1000

800

600

400

200

0

Beam bunches with different particle multiplicity can be

delivered directly to a detector for response tests to particles

3 MeV protons

5 MeV

protons

Not only accelerator-based techniques at LABEC

Developed an innovative XRF transportable system

for certain aspects, approaching the performance of

IBA techniques

The transportable XRF spectrometer

• 2 X ray tubes (30 kV max, 1 mA max) with two different anodes (typically Mo e Ti; W if needed)

• SDD

• helium flow in front of both tubes and detector

● telecamera

• 2 laser beams for accurate positioning

• interchangeable collimators; typical beam diameter 0.5 mm

Measurement head

Controller

o independent PS for the two tubes o data acquisition, He flow, X-Y-Z

displacement and video camera are

remotely controlled (via Ethernet) by the same computer

Stesura oltremare artificiale

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000

energia (eV)

conteggi

Mo 22kV

Na Al

Si

S (+Mo)

K Ca

Ca Fe

ultramarine blue layer

Using this portable XRF....

Affresco della Resurrezione

Piero della Francesca

Sansepolcro,

Museo Civico

60

Crucifix by Maestro di Figline

Santa Croce

Santa Croce, Cappella Bardi –

cycle of frescoes by Giotto

Madonna del Granduca Raffaello

Galleria Palatina

64

La Chimera di Arezzo

Museo Archeologico

Firenze

Beato Angelico, Crocifissione Capitolare, San Marco, Firenze

Thank you for your

attention!

Vol. 19 Issue 1

(2009), 5