Synchrotron radiation and cultural heritage. The experience of Elettra.

The use of synchrotron radiation (SR) for the analysis of cultural samples has been increasing over the past years, and experiments related to cultural heritage (CH) study have been performed at many beamlines of Elettra, the Italian SR facility. TwinMic, the Soft X-ray Microscope, integrates the advantages of complementary scanning and full-field imaging modes into a single instrument. X-Ray Fluorescence is a highly versatile beamline, optically designed for spectroscopy as well as for microscopy. The flexible design of the MCX beamline allows a wide range of diffraction experiments relevant for the CH, from phase identification to atomic structural studies. SYRMEP, the X-ray microtomography station, is a highly flexible beamline allowing analysis in both absorption and phase contrast mode. The XAFS beamline provides microscopic structural information through the analysis of a sample X-ray absorption spectrum. UV resonant Raman spectroscopy performed at IUVS beamline is a non-destructive powerful tool for obtaining a detailed compositional characterization of pigments in artworks. Infrared Microscopy techniques at SISSI beamline offer the possibility to correlate the sample morphological features with its vibrational local pattern at diffraction limited spatial resolution. The SPEM hosted at the ESCA microscopy beamline allows to combine chemically surface sensitive measurements with high spatial resolution. The XAFS beamline provides microscopic structural information through the analysis of a sample X-ray absorption spectrum. UV resonant Raman spectroscopy performed at IUVS beamline is a non-destructive powerful tool for obtaining a detailed compositional characterization of pigments in artworks. Infrared Microscopy techniques at SISSI beamline offer the possibility to correlate the sample morphological features with its vibrational local pattern at diffraction limited spatial resolution. The SPEM hosted at the ESCAmicroscopy beamline allows to combine chemically surface sensitive measurements with high spatial resolution