RBS and NRA with external beams for archaeometric applications

Combined RBS and NRA measurements at atmospheric pressure have been performed on copper alloys of archaeological significance with external beams of, respectively, 3-MeV protons and 2-MeV deuterons. The objective is to determine the structure and composition of the patina through the depth profiles of the constituent elements, particularly C, N, O, obtained by (d,p) nuclear reactions. An iterative fitting procedure of both RBS and NRA spectra permits to reach this goal with a high degree of confidence. ” 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.