AXIS - AUTOMATED XRF INTERPRETATION OF SPECTRA

Modern x-ray fluorescence instruments are highly sophisticated analyti cal tools. However, the interpretation software available with such in struments generally provides for little more than a computerized look- up table with reliance on operator experience to provide plausible ide ntification of spectral features, The system described (AXIS) overcome s some frequently encountered problems by appropriate application of h euristic interpretation (expert system), fuzzy logic and pattern recog nition, Spectral noise and instrumental inaccuracies are handled by ge neration and propagation of uncertainty using fuzzy logic algorithms, and fuzzy c-means pattern recognition furnishes the system with the ab ility to develop background knowledge from previously recorded similar spectra. The analytical results are presented graphically in the form of a hierarchical data tree, and the software can form the basis of a fully automated XRF interpretation system. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.