In this collaborative investigation, femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was applied to the study of a remarkable group of ancient Chinese gold objects in the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Taking advantage of the superior ablation characteristics and high precision of a femtosecond 266 nm Ti:sapphire laser at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, major, minor and trace element concentrations in the gold fragments were quantified. Results validate use of femtosecond LA-ICP-MS for revealing ''fingerprints'' in minute gold samples. These fingerprints allow us to establish patterns based on the association of silver, palladium and platinum that support historical, technical and stylistic relationships, and shed new light on these ancient objects.
BT - Journal of Archeological Science DA - 02/2009 DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2008.09.037 IS - 2 LA - eng N2 -In this collaborative investigation, femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was applied to the study of a remarkable group of ancient Chinese gold objects in the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Taking advantage of the superior ablation characteristics and high precision of a femtosecond 266 nm Ti:sapphire laser at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, major, minor and trace element concentrations in the gold fragments were quantified. Results validate use of femtosecond LA-ICP-MS for revealing ''fingerprints'' in minute gold samples. These fingerprints allow us to establish patterns based on the association of silver, palladium and platinum that support historical, technical and stylistic relationships, and shed new light on these ancient objects.
PY - 2009 SP - 461 EP - 466 T2 - Journal of Archeological Science TI - Trace element fingerprinting of ancient Chinese gold with femtosecond laser ablation-inductivity coupled mass spectrometry VL - 36 ER -