Technologies

Brief explanation of the different analysis technologies

Our measuring instruments are spectrometers. Spectroscopy deals with the measurement of the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter. The energy irradiated into the material is partly absorbed, reflected or leads to fluorescence processes. The response signal reflected by the sample is registered by the spectrometers and then interpreted by the software. 

For many years, the X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF analysis), the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and the Raman spectroscopy have been well-established methods of analysis of elemental composition (XRF) and molecular composition (NIR). These methods, which until recently were only accessible in specialised labs, have been available in handheld instruments for a number of years now. Thus, they are now accessible for a considerably larger circle of users for reliable on-site analyses.

Requirements for this miniaturisation at the highest performance level include:

• Innovative instrument design
• Powerful, long-lasting batteries
• Progresses in electronics and computer engineering as well as in display technology
• Small, powerful sources of radiation such as the X-ray sources of the XRF instruments, which are only a few centimetres in size
• Fast and sensitive detection techniques such as the new SDD detectors of the Niton GOLDD-series or the MEMS-modules of the PHAZIR NIR spectrometers.