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 14C 14C, 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 14C, 10Be, 26Al and 129I

~ 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

Co

rto

na

_1

Co

rto

na

_3

Co

rto

na

_5

Co

rto

na

_6

Co

rto

na

_7

cu

scin

o_

1

cu

scin

o_

2

S.C

roce

_1

S.C

roce

_2

S.C

roce

_3

S.C

roce

_4

S.C

roce

_5

S.C

roce

cin

go

lo

rad

ioca

rbo

n a

ge

(ye

ars

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

pM

Cp

MC

(perc

ent

of M

odern

Carb

on) 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

14

C c

on

c. (

pM

C)

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

14

C c

on

c. (

pM

C)

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

pM

C

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 10-3 to 102 μm

• 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

3.0

0

15.0

0

3.0

0

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0

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0

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0

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0

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15.0

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3.0

0

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0

3.0

0

15.0

0

As

Na

K

g/m

3

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

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/m3

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/m3

Sr

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6000

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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

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140

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co

ncen

trati

on

(

g/m

3)

marine aerosol

biomass burning

traffic

secondary nitrate

secondary sulphate

soil dust

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140

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PM10

Identification of pollution

sources through

multivariate statistical

models soil dust

18%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

14C 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 14C 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 Lα Pb Lα

Sn K Fe

Elemental mapping The eye of the Virgin

The veil Au Lα

Al Si Pb Lα

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

14012010080604020

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 detector (active area 10 mm2, 450 μm thickness,

FWHM 139 eV @ 5.9 keV)

• 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)

co

nte

gg

i

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