The X‐Ray Fluorescence (XRF) scanning spectrometer developed in the framework of Cultural Heritage Network ‐ National Institute of Nuclear Physics, is specifically customised for cultural heritage applications, designed with a focus on having a lightweight scanner (weighing approximately 10 kg), easy to handle and thus easily transportable in two medium‐sized boxes. The research presented here deals with the study of a set of choir books preserved in the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore on the homonymous island in Venice. Produced for the Abbey itself from the mid‐15th century onwards, the manuscripts have never left the island, making the study of the materials of particular interest as they have undergone little or no modification over time. During their history in the Abbey, however, the volumes have been disassembled and reassembled in various ways, bringing complexity to the current cataloguing work. Thus, analytical investigations of the pigments and painting techniques might help identify the original arrangement of displaced leaves and provide evidence for the attribution of individual illuminations to certain artists. Thanks to its easy transportability, it was possible to take the scanner to the small island by means of the water‐based Venetian public transport. Selected results are presented, derived from the high‐quality MA‐XRF maps obtained.

Over the time, instrument transportability has become more and more important, especially in Cultural Heritage, as often artworks cannot be moved from their site, either because of the size or due to problems with permission issues, or simply because moving them to a laboratory is physically impossible, as e.g. in the case of mural paintings. For this reason, the INFN-CHNet, the network for Cultural Heritage studies of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), has developed an XRF scanner for in situ analyses. The instrument is the result of a wide collaboration, where different units of the network have been developing the diverse parts, then merged in a single system. The XRF scanner has been designed to be a four-season and green instrument. The control/acquisition/analysis software has been fully developed by our group, using only open-source software. Other strong points of the system are easiness of use, high portability, good performances and ultra-low radiation dispersion, which allows us to use even when the public can be present. It can run both with mains or on batteries, in the latter case with a maximum runtime longer than 10 h. It has a very low cost, when compared to commercial systems with equivalent performances, and easily replaceable components, which makes it accessible for a much wider portion of the interested community. The system has been thought and designed as an open system, suitable for further development/improvements, that can result interesting for non-conventional XRF analysis. The CHNet XRF scanner has proved to be really very well suited for applications in the Cultural Heritage field, as testified by the many recent applications. This paper describes the present version of our instrument and reports on the tests performed to characterise its main features. Graphical abstract

In studies of Cultural Heritage, there is a growing demand for methods of material investigation. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyses have proven to be essential tools in these material studies. The XRF scanning spectrometer, developed at the LABEC laboratory in Florence, can perform both elemental mapping, on areas up to 20 x 20 cm(2), and single spot analyses.Thanks to our close and long lasting collaboration with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, one of the most prestigious restoration centers in the world, we had the opportunity to use the new XRF spectrometer in analyzing the painting "La Muta" of Raffaello Sanzio, one of the "Old Masters" of the Italian Renaissance. Beyond identification of the painting palette, the XRF study further allowed for structural analysis in cases where single spot XRF measurements would not be adequate. For example, the new system allowed us to deduce Raffaello's use of bone black pigment and to analyze various instances of "pentimenti" (underlying image in a painting, evidence of revision by the artist). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In the combustion and graphitization line for C-14-AMS samples used at INFN-LABEC for archaeological and geological applications, samples are burnt using an elemental analyser (EA). Advantages and drawbacks of EAs are known, a drawback being the possibility to introduce some contaminations or memory effects. Different parts inside an EA, e.g. the autosampler and the gas-chromatography column, might in principle be responsible of such problems.During a measurement run some time ago, we measured, indeed, radiocarbon concentration values somewhat higher than usual in nominally blank samples. These "bad" data could be explained by memory effects. By assuming a constant contribution from the sample of the prior combustion, this effect might be corrected: indeed, by repeating cycles of sequential combustions of standards and blanks, we observed a good reproducibility of the amount of contamination from the previous sample needed to explain the results. However, we were obviously unhappy with the fact itself of such corrections being needed, and several tests were performed to identify the source of contamination and eliminate it. Eventually, we succeeded in finding the cause of this failure and in recovering the full performance of the system. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This work will present preliminary results concerning the use of time-resolved ion beam induced luminescence applied to provenance studies of lapis lazuli. Measurements were performed at the pulsed beam facility at LABEC laboratory in Florence. Lapis lazuli is a semi-precious gemstone, used as ornament since the early civilizations that can be found in few places on Earth. The importance of this work lies in understanding the origin of various samples of lapis lazuli, from which it may be possible to gain insight into trade routes from ancient times. The samples studied in this work originated from Chile, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Myanmar, and Siberia. The stones were irradiated with 3MeV protons and the resulting luminescence was detected by a photomultiplier tube, whose output was acquired using a sampling digitizer VME module (CAEN/V1720). Wavelength discrimination was performed at 430nm utilizing a range of beam currents. The results showed that, by changing the beam current intensity, one can study different features of lapis lazuli, and this may aid in distinguishing lapis lazuli from different provenances.

A high resolution time of flight (TOF) system has been developed at LABEC, the 3 MV Tandem accelerator laboratory in Florence, in order to improve the sensitivity of AMS measurements on carbon samples with ultra-low concentration and also to measure other isotopes, such as I-129. The system can be employed to detect and identify residual interfering particles originated from the break-up of molecular isobars. The set-up has been specifically designed for low energy heavy ions: it consists of two identical time pick-off stations, each made up of a thin conductive foil and a Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) multiplier. The beam-line is also equipped with a silicon detector, installed downstream the stop TOF station.In this paper the design of the new system and the implemented readout electronics are presented. The tests performed on the single time pick-off station are reported: they show that the maximum contribution to the timing resolution given by both the intrinsic MCP resolution and the electronics is <= 500 ps (FWHM). For these tests, single particle pulsed beams of 2-5 MeV protons and 10 MeV C-12(3+) ions, to simulate typical AMS conditions, were used.The preliminary TOF and TOF-E (TOF-energy) measurements performed with carbon beams after the installation of the new system on the AMS beam line are also discussed. These measurements were performed using the foil MCP as the start stage and a silicon detector as the stop stage. The spectra acquired with carbon ions suggest the presence of a small residual background from neighboring masses reaching the end of the beamline with the same energy as the rare isotope. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We performed high-temperature luminescence studies of silicon-vacancy color centers obtained by ion implantation in single crystal diamond. We observed reduction of the integrated fluorescence upon increasing temperature, ascribable to a transition channel with an activation energy of 180 meV that populates a shelving state. Nonetheless, the signal decreased only 50% and 75% with respect to room temperature at 500 K and 700 K, respectively. In addition, the color center is found highly photostable at temperatures exceeding 800 K. The luminescence of this color center is thus extremely robust even at large temperatures and it holds promise for novel diamond-based light-emitting devices.

Recently, developments have been made to the external scanning microbeam of INFN-LABEC laboratory in Florence. A new system for mechanical sample scanning was implemented. This system allows us to acquire large maps (up to 20 x 20 cm(2)), of great interest in the Cultural Heritage field.In parallel, the possibility of using carbon microbeams for experiments, such as, for example, ion beam modification of materials and MeV Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, has been investigated.As a test application, Particle Induced X-ray Emission with carbon microbeams has been performed on a lapis lazuli stone.First results for both wide area imaging and external carbon microbeams are briefly reported. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ion beams supplied by the 3MV Tandem accelerator of LABEC laboratory (INFN-Firenze), have been used to study the feasibility of irradiating materials with ion fluences reproducible to about 1%. Test measurements have been made with 7.5 MeV 7Li2+ beams of different intensities. The fluence control is based on counting ions contained in short bursts generated by chopping the continuous beam with an electrostatic deflector followed by a couple of adjustable slits. Ions are counted by means of a micro-channel plate (MCP) detecting the electrons emitted from a thin layer of Al inserted along the beam path in between the pulse defining slits and the target. Calibration of the MCP electron detector is obtained by comparison with the response of a Si detector.

In the last few years some new implementations and upgrades have been made to the external scanning microbeam of INFN-LABEC laboratory in Florence, enriching the existing PIXE, PIGE, BS, IBIL set-up with complementary techniques, when possible allowing for simultaneous multi-technique analyses.We developed a system, compatible with the existing set-up, for the out-of-vacuum detection of the forward scattered particles. This system makes feasible the external-STIM (Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy) and external-FS (Forward Scattering), now both available at our beamline. Test measurements are shortly presented. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

For the first time, a quick method to discriminate between undamaged, well‐maintained katanas and worn artificially restored blades is presented.The peculiar hardening process that a Japanese katana undergoes results in creation of a tempered martensitic phase near the blade edge. After the temper, traditional polishing with stones is performed, which gives the sword its final look: the hardened zone exhibits matte finish, and it is separated from the shinier zone by the hamon line, which is the most characteristic feature of a katana. If the sword is worn, the martensitic phase disappears and so does the hamon line, the sword losing most of its commercial value. However, an acid bath can simulate the matte texture of an undamaged martensitic structure, making it really difficult to recognize valuable blades from worn ones. So far, no analytical approach helping in this task was available. The method we present is based on the hypothesis that traditional polishing leaves a very tiny amount of stone dust on the blade, whereas the acid bath rinses it away. The presence on the blade surface of Si (the major component of the stones used for polishing) when the hamon line is clearly visible could thus be a reasonable marker indicating that the blade is maintaining its original martensitic structure and thus is in a good conservation state.For the Si detection, X‐ray fluorescence technique was chosen, which ensures non‐destructivity, high sensitivity, and short measurement time with a portable instrument. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.