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Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Synchrotron X-ray Microdiffraction and Fluorescence Imaging of Mineral and Rock Samples
Published on: June 19, 2018
Low-background gamma spectrometry and neutron diffraction in the study of stony meteorites
Riccardo Rossini1, Massimiliano Clemenza2, Daniela Di Martino2
1Department of Physics "G. Occhialini" and Local INFN Division, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; Department of Physics and Local INFN Division, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, STFC, Didcot, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Non-destructive characterisation of meteorites is here performed on a stony meteorite. The identification of the sample is performed by low-background γ-ray spectrometry in order to determine the presence of certain cosmogenic radionuclides, whereas a mineralogical phase quantitative analysis is carried out by Time-of-Flight Neutron Diffraction (ToF-ND) on the sample as-it-is. The protocol is then validated by applying micro-Raman Spectroscopy (μRS) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). This paper is focused on γ-ray spectrometry, proving the meteoric origin of the sample, and it also presents some preliminary results of ToF-ND.
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