As of March 31, 2008

for international journal X-Ray Spectrometry (John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

"Topics in X-Ray Spectrometry" (C. Vazquez (Ed.), Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, 216 pages, ISBN-978-987-1323-04-3)

A very useful XRS booklet has recently been published in Argentina.  Seven chapters are contribution of the authors from South America (Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina) and the rest three are from Europe (Austria and Belgium). This booklet could be used as a textbook in tutorial workshops for newcomers to XRS, because it covers a lot of ground ranging from the fundamental aspects of XRS right through to almost all the important applications, as well as providing key knowledge for practical analysis such as sample preparation.  In addition, it is full of comprehensive figures, photos and tables that are large enough to view even if one is simply flipping through the pages.  The booklet covers not only XRS in general, but also detailed information on TXRF, which has become particularly popular in South America.  In the preface, the editor of the book, Professor Cristina Vazquez, comments on the long history of X-rays after their discovery by Roentgen in 1895.  Nowadays, X-ray analysis is one of the most widely used scientific tools.  Synchrotron sources are available worldwide (except unfortunately in Africa – in South America, one synchrotron is operating in Sao Paulo, Brazil).  The publication of such an excellent XRS textbook (as well as the holding of good conferences and tutorial workshops) is significant in preparing the way for the next generation of students so that they too can go on to create history.

Analysis of trace cadmium in the environment (April 1, 2008)

Cadmium is one of the most ecotoxic metals.  A Spanish and Belgian research group led by Dr. M. Hidalgo (University of Girona, Spain) has recently reported the determination of trace Cd in complex environmental liquid samples.  The method employed is basically a combination of a pre-concentration technique and Cd Kα XRF analysis with a high-energy polarized beam (PANalytical Epsilon 5 with a Gd tube, 100kV-6mA, and a Ge detector).  In order to collect trace Cd effectively, the research group used Aliquat 336 (trademark of Cognis Corp.), which is tricaprylmethylammonium chloride (C₂₅H₅₄ClN), as an extractant.  The typical detection limit is 0.7 μg/L, and the accuracy was investigated by using spiked seawater samples and a synthetic water sample containing, besides Cd, high amounts of other metal pollutants such as Ni, Cu, and Pb.  For more information, see the paper, "High-Energy Polarized-Beam Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis Combined with Activated Thin Layers for Cadmium Determination at Trace Levels in Complex Environmental Liquid Samples", E. Margui et al., Anal. Chem., 80, 2357 (2008).

Keyhole coherent diffractive imaging (March 9, 2008)

Recent advances in highly brilliant synchrotron sources including soft X-ray free-electron lasers have ushered in many new methods of microscopy.  Coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) is one of the most promising ways of determining the nanoscale structures of non-crystalline materials.  However, to enable phase determination, the intensity distribution must be sampled at a spacing finer than its Nyquist frequency, which in turn requires the sample to be finite.  In other words, there are some limitations in the sample size.  Recently, an Australian group led by Professor K. A. Nugent (University of Melbourne) proposed a new method, 'keyhole' CDI, which can reconstruct objects of arbitrary size.  In this case, a beam is focused and the object is placed downstream of the focal point so that it is illuminated by a diverging wave.  The geometry looks similar to that of in-line holography, but the requirements placed on the source and detector are different.  The group attempted imaging by visible light and X-rays, and, using the latter, part of an extended object was imaged with a detector-limited resolution of better than 20 nm.  For more information on the present experiments, see the paper, "Keyhole coherent diffractive imaging", B. Abbey et al., Nature Physics, advanced online publication, DOI: 10.1038/nphys896

Determination of beryllium by XRF (March 1, 2008)

Beryllium has exceptional material properties, and because of this, it is an essential element used in the aerospace, computer, electronics, and nuclear industries.  For X-rays, it has been widely used as a window material.  Dr. B. Zawisza (Silesian University, Poland) has recently reported the determination of beryllium by X-rays.  One would think that it is not easy to determine such an extremely light element by XRF.  The novel simple idea is indirect determination of cobalt in the precipitates, [Co(NH₃)₆][Be₂(OH)₃(CO₃)₂(H₂O)₂]・3H₂O, fove rmed from hexamminecobalt(III) chloride and ammonium carbonate-EDTA solution.  The detection limit of the proposed method is 0.2 mg of beryllium.  For more information, see the paper, "Determination of Beryllium by Using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry", B. Zawisza, Anal. Chem., 80, 1696 (2008).

Liquid-jet dynamics revealed by ultrafast X-ray phase contrast imaging (January 27, 2008)

Fast liquid jets and sprays, which are complex multiphase flow phenomena, have been one of physics’ veiled mysteries ever since the pioneering work by Rayleigh in the 19^th century (See, W. S. Rayleigh, “On the stability of jets”, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 4, 10 (1878)).  The main reason is simply that standard microscopy and visible light imaging techniques cannot peer into the dark and murky centers of dense-liquid jets.  Recently, Dr. K. Fezzaa and his colleagues (Argonne National Lab, USA) have succeeded in revealing for the first time the morphology and velocity fields of high-speed and highly turbulent jets generated by a gasoline direct injection system.  The research group employed ultrafast synchrotron-X-ray full-field phase-contrast imaging.  The spatial and time resolutions in the experiments were 5-30 micron and 472 ns, respectively.  For more information on the present experiments, see the paper, "Ultrafast X-ray study of dense-liquid-jet flow dynamics using structure-tracking velocimetry", Y. Wang et al., Nature Physics, advanced online publication, DOI: 10.1038/nphys840

Lensless X-ray camera for nano materials (January 18, 2008)

A joint research group from the USA and Australia, led by Dr. J. Miao (University of California-Los Angeles) recently published the first results of resonant X-ray diffraction microscopy for element specific imaging of buried structures with a pixel resolution of ~15 nm by exploiting the abrupt change in the scattering cross section near electronic resonances.  They performed nondestructive and quantitative imaging of buried Bi structures inside a Si crystal by directly phasing coherent X-ray diffraction patterns near the Bi-MV edge.  For more information, see the paper, "Nanoscale Imaging of Buried Structures with Elemental Specificity Using Resonant X-Ray Diffraction Microscopy", C. Song et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 025504 (2008).

Obituary - Daniel Chemla (March 20, 2008)

Daniel S. Chemla, a world-leading physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California, USA has died at the age of 67 at his home in Kensington.  Dr. Chemla had been ill for four years after suffering a stroke.  He had been director of the Materials Science Division, and also of the Advanced Light Source.  He also held an appointment as a professor of physics at UC Berkeley.  Dr. Chemla was French, born in 1940 in Tunisia, and was a graduate of France's prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications.  He received his Ph.D. in non-linear optics from the University of Paris in 1972.  Dr. Chemla came to the United States in 1981 to work at AT&T's famed Bell Laboratories.  In 1991, he was recruited to Berkeley Lab by then director Charles Shank, to become the first director of a newly formed Materials Sciences Division.  Dr. Chemla earned particular praise because of his great leadership and contribution in resolving the Advanced Light Source’s budget crisis.  His achievements with the lab's nanoscale work also led the Department of Energy to select the Berkeley Lab for the opening of the first of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers in the US.  Dr. Chemla named it "The Molecular Foundry."  Dr. Chemla’s great talents were not limited to science.  He was a master of Karate – he won the 5^th degree black belt in karate, the highest rank awarded in Shotokan Karate of America.  He translated Master Gichin Funakoshi's “Karate-do Kyohan”, the widely accepted karate master text (Kodansha International Ltd. ISBN 0-87011-190-6) into French.  Dr. Chemla was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.  He received the R.W. Wood prize of the Optical Society of America, and the Quantum Electronics Award of the IEEE Laser and Electro-Optics Society, and a Humboldt Research Award.  Dr. Chemla is survived by his wife Berit, two children, Yann, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Britt Chemla Jones, an Art History lecturer in Houston, Texas.  His biography was released by Berkeley Lab.
http://www.lbl.gov/today/2008/Mar/21-Fri/chemla-jump.pdf
The San Francisco Chronicle (March 24, 2008) carries an obituary written by David Perlman.

2008 Pittcon Heritage Award – L. Hood (March 2, 2008)

The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) announced that Dr. Leroy Hood (Co-director of the Nano Systems Biology Cancer Center (NSBCC) and President of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington) received the seventh annual Pittcon Heritage Award.  Jointly sponsored by the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) and CHF, this award recognizes outstanding individuals whose entrepreneurial careers have shaped the instrumentation community, inspired achievement, promoted public understanding of the modern instrumentation sciences, and highlighted the role of analytical chemistry in world economies.  Dr. Hood pioneered the techniques that made the rapid pace of the Human Genome Project possible.

Oxford’s new handheld XRF spectrometer (March 28, 2008)

Oxford Instruments has announced the launch of an X-ray fluorescence analyzer - the X MET5000 equipped with PentaFETR detector technology.  The X-MET5000’s major strength is its Light Element Treatment (LET) mode, enabling fast and accurate analysis of heavy elements, even when the sample contains light elements like aluminum and silicon. This has not previously been possible when using only fundamental parameter calibrations.  For further information, visit http://www.oxford-instruments.com/

Thermo Fisher Scientific introduces WDXRF Spectrometer for metals, mining, minerals and cement industries (March 17, 2008)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has launched the enhanced ARL OPTIM'X with SMS-Omega automation.  This WDXRF spectrometer is compact, with a footprint of less than 1m².  It features fully automated sample preparation and analysis, and is designed for dedicated use in metals, mining, minerals and cement applications.  For further information, call +1 800-532-4752, analyze@thermofisher.com, or visit http://www.thermo.com/elemental

Bruker’s solution for geology, minerals and mining applications (March 15, 2008)

Bruker AXS has announced the launch of GEO-QUANT, a solution that performs quantitative analysis of more than 27 key trace elements in geological materials.  GEO-QUANT is specifically designed for the S8 TIGER wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.  For further information, contact Kai Behrens, product manager of WDXRF, Phone: +49 (721) 595 2958, kai.behrens@bruker-axs.de, http://www.bruker-axs.de/

Oxford Instruments releases X-Strata980 (February 5, 2008)

Oxford Instruments’ new X-Strata980 is an X-ray fluorescence analyzer which combines a high-power X-ray tube and large LN₂ free detector to measure small areas of complex samples and deliver limits of detection in single-digit ppm.  For further information, visit http://www.oxford-instruments.com/

PANalytical launches new Korean website (March 11, 2008)

PANalytical has launched a new Korean language website, http://www.panalytical.co.kr/

Bruker wins Pittcon editors’ choice gold and bronze awards (March 6, 2008)

Over the past 10 years, about 200 of the editors in attendance at Pittcon (Pittsburgh Conference) have selected the best examples of innovative and creative instruments showcased on the exposition floor.  The sole criterion is that the nominated products are making their first appearance on the exhibition floor.  The 2008 results are as follows, Gold: Bruker AXS Smart X2S (crystal-to-structure for small molecule system), Silver:  NLISIS Meltfit One (chromatography), Bronze: Bruker AXS X2 Picofox (TXRF spectrometer).

SpectroscopyNow.com

For additional news about X-ray analysis and other spectroscopy sciences, browse the Wiley website.

Kenji Sakurai
Director, X-Ray Physics Group, National Institute for
Materials Science (NIMS)
and Professor, Doctoral Program in Materials Science and
Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences,
 University of Tsukuba
1-2-1, Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 Japan
Phone : +81-29-859-2821, Fax : +81-29-859-2801
sakurai@yuhgiri.nims.go.jp
http://www.nims.go.jp/xray/lab/