Pushing the limits of accelerator mass spectrometry

A. Galindo-Uribarri, J. R. Beene, M. Danchev, J. Doupé, B. Fuentes, J. Gomez del Campo, P. A. Hausladen, R. C. Juras, J. F. Liang, A. E. Litherland, Y. Liu, M. J. Meigs, G. D. Mills, P. E. Mueller, E. Padilla-Rodal, J. Pavan, J. W. Sinclair, D. W. Stracener

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    30 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    A renewed interest in Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from nuclear physics laboratories is emerging in connection with Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs). At the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) we are exploring the AMS capabilities of the 25-MV tandem accelerator. Behind this effort is the realization that two fields of research - AMS and RIBs - complement each other in techniques. Development of effective and efficient beam purification techniques is of common interest to both AMS and the RIB program. Two main characteristics of the 25-MV tandem provide unique opportunities for performing the highest sensitivity measurements of AMS; namely (i) the highest operating voltage in the world, and (ii) a folded geometry which involves a 180° magnet in the terminal. For the RIB program, we have used AMS techniques to improve the sensitivity of detection of some radioactive species in the measurement of unknown masses of n-rich nuclei. For AMS, we have concentrated in exploring two important isotopes, 14C and 36Cl, for applications that require the highest sensitivity. We have successfully measured 36Cl/Cl ratios as low as a few times 10-16 in seawater samples demonstrating that our setup has the highest sensitivity for this isotope and proving that 36Cl can be measured at the levels required for a tracer in oceanography.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)123-130
    Number of pages8
    JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
    Volume259
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jun 2007

    Funding

    The authors gratefully acknowledge S.K. Frape of the University of Waterloo for the Oodnadatta sample, K. Kemp for the Salina Formation Halite sample, J.N. Smith of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada for the seawater samples, the HRIBF operations staff, especially Michael R. Dinehart, and Clifford T. Lecroy for the careful tuning of the tandem accelerator. The first author wishes to thank Grant Raisbeck from Orsay for valuable discussions. This research is supported by the US Department of Energy under contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC.

    Keywords

    • 07.75.+h
    • 29.30.-h
    • 82.80.Ms
    • Accelerator mass spectrometry
    • Cl
    • Radioactive ion beams
    • Seawater

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