Comparison of the analytical performances of X-ray fluorescence devices

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a technique frequently used for the elemental analysis of cultural heritage materials. Depending on components selection (i.e. the primary source, the detector and the focusing optics, if present), the analytical performance of the spectrometer, and its consequent suitability for a given purpose, may vary considerably. In this paper, we compare the analytical performance of four different devices, two commercial and two expressly designed by the authors, and we consider two figures of merit: the limit of detection (LOD) and the standard error of regression (SER). The measurements are performed on a set of 19 copper alloy standards.