Two cultural heritage objects studied with scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) are presented in this article: (1) archeological iron present in a soil sample and (2) a chip from a purple-colored area of an undisclosed 17th century painting. Novel PARC software was used to interpret the data in terms of quantitative distribution of mineral and organo-mineral phases as well as their chemical composition. The study serves to demonstrate the power of PARC rather than solving specific archeological issues. The observations on archeological iron potentially can assist in (1) studing the source of iron-metal and the style of forging, (2) learning about alteration processes of artifacts in the particular soil from which the sample originated, and (3) determining the nature of the fractures in the Fe-oxide envelope (desiccation of the sample after excavation, or as primary feature caused by volume change from oxidation). In the paint chip, 11 consecutive layers can be distinguished using the PARC software. In general, each layer consists of a carrier supporting inorganic fragments. In the basal layer the fragments are dominant; in the superimposed layers the carrier usually is. Both organic and inorganic carriers appear to be present. Organic carriers can contain typically inorganic constituents (e.g., Pb, Al), beyond the chemical spatial resolution of EDS (i.e., <1 μm).

The rapid advance and falling costs of computing power and data storage during the last 40 years have greatly enhanced the data reduction speed and analytical capacity of energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) systems. At the same time, the solid state X-ray detector [until recently, the Si(Li) diode] has seen performance increases due to the use of advanced materials and processing techniques. In addition, the performance of the electronic components (field effect transistor, preamp, and pulse processor) of an EDS system has been constantly improved. These technology advances have resulted in improved spectral quality, excellent light element detection, and increased count rate performance. The results have been truly remarkable and driven by the needs of the analyst. This article will summarize the progress made in these areas in the last 40 years and make a brief reference to prospects for future development in EDS system performance.

A detector that looks promising for advanced imaging modalities—such as X-ray absorption contrast imaging, X-ray fluorescence imaging, and diffraction-enhanced imaging—is the controlled-drift detector (CDD). The CDD is a novel two-dimensional X-ray imager with energy resolving capability of spectroscopic quality. It is built on a fully depleted silicon wafer and features fast readout while being operated at or near room temperature. The use of CDDs in the aforementioned applications allows translating these techniques from synchrotron-based experiments to laboratory-size experiments using polychromatic X-ray generators. We have built a dedicated and versatile detection module based on a 36 mm2 CDD chip featuring pixels of 180 × 180 μm2, and we evaluated the system performance in different X-ray imaging applications both with synchrotron-based experiments and in the laboratory environment.