Short Description
Hitachi TM4000Plus II tabletop scanning electron microscope with Bruker EDS system Quantax 75 for elemental analysis
Contact Person
Dimitra Kourtidou MSc, Ph.D.
Research Services
The Archaeological Sciences unit of the Austrian Archaeological Institute is dedicated to the interdisciplinary analysis of archaeological artifacts and ecofacts. In-house expertise includes lithics and marble research, ceramic/clay/mortar and color archaeometry, archaeogeochemistry as well as archaeoichthyology, archaeothanatology and histotaphonomy, archaeobotany and expertise in the field of food archaeology.
The Hitachi Tabletop SEM TM4000Plus II is a versatile scanning electron microscope (SEM) suitable for various applications in archaeology. Its compact design and user-friendly interface make it ideal for use in the laboratory and in the field. The TM4000Plus II offers high-resolution imaging capabilities that enable detailed examination of archaeological materials. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (Bruker EDS system Quantax 75) enables elemental analyses that provide valuable insights into the composition of artifacts and archaeological materials. In this summary, the main features of the SEM and its potential applications in archaeological research are presented.
The microscope equipment at the OeAI also includes 20 optical microscopes from the manufacturers Olympus, Leica, Zeiss and Keyence in various configurations (stereo microscopes, reflected light/transmitted light microscopes) and additional equipment such as polarization, bright field/dark field or high-resolution digital cameras. Some of the devices are located in the branch offices of the OeAI.
Methods & Expertise for Research Infrastructure
The complementary and overlapping research areas such as bioarchaeology, geoarchaeology, archaeometry and restoration at the OeAI use the SEM on the one hand as an optical magnifier and to record and quantify the characteristics of various archaeological samples and objects. On the other hand, the SEM is also used for the chemical analysis of samples and areas on and in the samples and their graphical representation on the object itself as well as in the form of tables or graphs.
University of Vienna