All XRF analyzers will have the ability to create the x-ray beam, inner mechanics for the gathering and analysis of the lost energy data, and a screen to display the results.  A power source is necessary to operate an XRF analyzer; this can come from battery power in smaller models.

XRF analyzers create an x-ray beam that is shone into a sample.  The x-ray beam is strong enough to displace electrons in the nucleus of the atoms in the sample.  Energy is lost as electrons shift to stabilize the atoms.  This shifting of electrons is called fluorescence.  The energy lost to fluorescence is unique to each element.  The XRF analyzer measures the lost energy to identify the elements in the sample and the amount of each present. 

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers are a nondestructive way to analyze the elemental content of a sample.  They are used to determine which elements are present in materials such as cement, metals, chemicals, soil, rock, and food.

• Weld analysis
• Identification of toxic metals in toys
• RoHS compliance
• Metal composition
• Geochemical analysis of veins in core samples from mining exploration
• Laboratory research
• Scrap sorting
• Environmental screening

• Niton
• ARL
• Bruker
• Olympus
• DELTA
• Oxford Instruments
• Spectro
• Elvatech
• INNOV-X Systems