| abstract |
An apparatus and method in which one or more taggants are detected by X-ray fluorescence analysis to identify or verify the article or its point of manufacture. The taggants are manufactured as part of the article or placed into a coating, label, or otherwise embedded within the article for later verification of the presence or absence of the taggant. The detection apparatus (25) has an instrument housing (15) which contains various components. Gamma rays (30) from a source (20) are optionally focused by aperture (10) to impinge on a sample (11), which contains at least one taggant. |