In recent years Raman spectromicroscopy (μRS) has emerged as a powerful technique for the analysis of artistic, historical and archaeological materials. Owing to its non-destructive nature, it can be used in combination with other techniques. Integration of μRS with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at variable pressure (VP) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) takes full advantage of the high spatial resolution offered by the SEM for non-destructive in situ nanoscale morphological and topographic mapping, and the atomic and molecular micro-probing of the EDS and μRS for spatially resolved elemental characterization and structural analysis of materials on the same platform. In this paper we demonstrate the potential of the integrated SEM–EDS–μRS system also combined with Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) for the analysis of ultramicroscopic complex organic and inorganic archaeological samples from important sites of the ancient world.

Integrated SEM–EDS–μRS system for the analysis of material culture

251st National Meeting (2016)

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