A particle accelerator for works of art and artefacts

The ion beam analysis (IBA) performed with the AGLAE accelerator at the Louvre museum allows the knowledge of the composition of paints or of surface coatings without damaging the work of art. AGLAE is a 2 MV tandem electrostatic accelerator. AGLAE has been recently replaced by a new generation AGLAE whose ion beams are more stable and its operating modes are more automated. The 4 most important IBA techniques can be used with AGLAE: the PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray Emission), the RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry), NRA (Nuclear Reaction Analysis) and PIGE (Particle Induced Gamma-ray Emission). These methods are complementary as each one has its specificities, for instance the PIXE method with 3 MeV protons is the most used because it does not require an intense beam and can be used directly on the artefact without need to make a sample. (A.C.)