You may be wondering how XRF Analyzers work? How they can non-destructively test consumer products for heavy metals and tell me what’s in something in a few seconds?
How about the simple version without going into elemental atomics 101
For starters, the analyzer that we us is a hand-held, mobile device. It is battery powered and features an I-Pac designed for easy use. As its name implies, XRF analyzers use X-Rays (it contains a small X-Ray Tube) to penetrate any object (there needs to be a physical contact with a surface). The X-Rays sent from the tube, excite the electrons inside the object and those electrons jump shells (usually the K & L shells of the nucleus of an atom). When the electron jumps a shell, it produces a photon (fluorescence). That fluorescence creates an electric charge and can be tracked on a spectrum.
The spectrum is where all the data is contained. Every element has a unique set of identifying peaks along the spectrum, to prove the element is present of not present. Here is where the computer software calculates chemistry and informs and quantifies elements from within that test location. Elements found will only range from 15 to 94 on the periodic chart, as that is the detection capabilities of this portable analyzer. Detection capabilities for the analyzers we use are only in Parts Per Million (PPM) or greater.
