Need for portable accelerators in cultural heritage

Conference · Sat Jul 09 00:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2022-TUOZGD1· OSTI ID:1882206

Charles, T. K. ^[1]; Bodenstein, R. M. ^[2]; Castilla, A. ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Liverpool (United Kingdom)
2. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)

Ion Beam Accelerators (IBA) centres have provided researchers with powerful techniques to analyse objects of cultural significance in a non-destructive and non-invasive manner. However, in some cases it is not feasible to remove an object from the field or museum and transport it to the laboratory. In this contributed talk, we present as a manner of a short review, examples of the benefits provided from these techniques in the study of material culture and discuss the initial steps to consider when investigating the feasibility of a compact accelerator that can be taken to sites of cultural significance for PIXE analysis. In particular, we consider the application of a compact, robust 2 MeV proton accelerator that can be taken into the field to perform PIXE measurements on rock art. We detail the main challenges and considerations for such a device.

• Research Organization: Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-06OR23177
• OSTI ID: 1882206
• Report Number(s): JLAB-ACP-22-3669; DOE/OR/23177-5553
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English