RMD wasn’t the first on the market with an XRF RoHS scanner for the RoHS application, why is that?
Each of the players offering XRF scanning devices has “crossed-over” their technology from another industry. RMD could have done the same. However, we assessed the needs of the market and determined that if we were truly looking forward, a totally new device was not only required by, but was being demanded by the industry.
For the RoHS application, not only was new software required but a totally new platform of XRF technology and features were being asked for by the market. RMD determined that our previously developed technology, using Co57 as the energy source for X-rays, was a superior technology (vs. tube-type energy) for the RoHS application, and adding new features and capabilities was what the industry was looking for.
Aside from the actual XRF energy technology used, there were numerous features assessed that were needed for RMD’s new product. Many customers were interviewed and almost every one preferred a scanning area that was not fixed, but could be adjusted by the user. Consequently we have applied for a patent for what RMD calls the “adjusta-beam” feature. The end-user can adjust the scan area from very small or large if the application requires it. This is an industry first for a portable, handheld XRF analyzer. Customers also told us that they wanted a product that could give them more than just a surface measurement analysis. Therefore, we stayed with our Co57 technology because it is the only XRF technology that allows for a quantitative measurement of the scanned area. Next, we felt the new platform would have to “walk the talk” and itself be RoHS compliant. We heard from many customers that they were concerned about ESD issues and have made the plastic housing ESD-safe. Finally, we wanted to ensure that the new technology was truly portable and could be “brought to the parts.” All other XRF scanners require the parts to be brought to the instrument.
Other XRF “guns” on the market use an X-ray tube to generate X-rays. Why has RMD chosen to use Co57 as its source to generate X-rays?
We waited for about a year before bringing out our new product. The reason we waited is because we had heard from various end-users that the early XRF offerings were starting to show some limitations and shortcomings. Most of these issues dealt with false positives and false negative readings. As XRF experts for the past 10 years, we knew that using an X-ray tube for the RoHS application would not work as well Co57.
Our XRF system generates K-shell X-rays and all other systems can only generate L-shell X-rays. Basic principles of physics prevail and explain why tube-type devices are now showing their limitations. RMD’s ability to create higher energy characteristic X-rays (K-shell) leads to a cleaner spectrum, which is not as “crowed” as low energy spectrum (L-shell) sources. Therefore, by using K-shell X-rays, analysis can be done using clear peaks that are not overlapped, eliminating false indications in much less time. In other words, Co57 has a wider spectrum that provides better resolution to see the true “peak value” of each element contained in the scanned area without any convolution or masking effects. This eliminates any false negative or false positive conditions.
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