The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams

Meghan S. Janzen; Alfredo Galindo-Uribarri; Yuan Liu; Gerald D. Mills; Elisa Romero-Romero; Daniel W. Stracener

doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2015.05.037

The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams

Meghan S. Janzen, Alfredo Galindo-Uribarri, Yuan Liu, Gerald D. Mills, Elisa Romero-Romero, Daniel W. Stracener

Neutrino Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present results and discuss the use of aluminum nitride as a promising source material for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) science applications of ²⁶Al isotopes. The measurement of ²⁶Al in geological samples by AMS is typically conducted on Al₂O₃ targets. However, Al₂O₃ is not an ideal source material because it does not form a prolific beam of Al^- required for measuring low-levels of ²⁶Al. Multiple samples of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), aluminum nitride (AlN), mixed Al₂O₃-AlN as well as aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) were tested and compared using the ion source test facility and the stable ion beam (SIB) injector platform at the 25-MV tandem electrostatic accelerator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Negative ion currents of atomic and molecular aluminum were examined for each source material. It was found that pure AlN targets produced substantially higher beam currents than the other materials and that there was some dependence on the exposure of AlN to air. The applicability of using AlN as a source material for geological samples was explored by preparing quartz samples as Al₂O₃ and converting them to AlN using a carbothermal reduction technique, which involved reducing the Al₂O₃ with graphite powder at 1600 °C within a nitrogen atmosphere. The quartz material was successfully converted to AlN. Thus far, AlN proves to be a promising source material and could lead towards increasing the sensitivity of low-level ²⁶Al AMS measurements. The potential of using AlN as a source material for nuclear physics is also very promising by placing ²⁶AlN directly into a source to produce more intense radioactive beams of ²⁶Al.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	281-287
Number of pages	7
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume	361
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2015.05.037
State	Published - Oct 15 2015

Funding

Special thanks to Prof. Yingkui Li from University of Tennessee for providing the purified quartz samples for the preparation of AMS targets. This material is based upon work sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory , managed by UT-Battelle, LLC , for the U.S. Department of Energy and is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics . This research used resources of the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

Keywords

AMS
Al
Aluminum nitride
Negative ion source

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10.1016/j.nimb.2015.05.037

Cite this

Janzen, M. S., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Liu, Y., Mills, G. D., Romero-Romero, E., & Stracener, D. W. (2015). The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 361, 281-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2015.05.037

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title = "The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams",

abstract = "We present results and discuss the use of aluminum nitride as a promising source material for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) science applications of 26Al isotopes. The measurement of 26Al in geological samples by AMS is typically conducted on Al2O3 targets. However, Al2O3 is not an ideal source material because it does not form a prolific beam of Al- required for measuring low-levels of 26Al. Multiple samples of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), aluminum nitride (AlN), mixed Al2O3-AlN as well as aluminum fluoride (AlF3) were tested and compared using the ion source test facility and the stable ion beam (SIB) injector platform at the 25-MV tandem electrostatic accelerator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Negative ion currents of atomic and molecular aluminum were examined for each source material. It was found that pure AlN targets produced substantially higher beam currents than the other materials and that there was some dependence on the exposure of AlN to air. The applicability of using AlN as a source material for geological samples was explored by preparing quartz samples as Al2O3 and converting them to AlN using a carbothermal reduction technique, which involved reducing the Al2O3 with graphite powder at 1600 °C within a nitrogen atmosphere. The quartz material was successfully converted to AlN. Thus far, AlN proves to be a promising source material and could lead towards increasing the sensitivity of low-level 26Al AMS measurements. The potential of using AlN as a source material for nuclear physics is also very promising by placing 26AlN directly into a source to produce more intense radioactive beams of 26Al.",

keywords = "AMS, Al, Aluminum nitride, Negative ion source",

author = "Janzen, {Meghan S.} and Alfredo Galindo-Uribarri and Yuan Liu and Mills, {Gerald D.} and Elisa Romero-Romero and Stracener, {Daniel W.}",

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Janzen, MS, Galindo-Uribarri, A, Liu, Y, Mills, GD, Romero-Romero, E & Stracener, DW 2015, 'The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, vol. 361, pp. 281-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2015.05.037

The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams. / Janzen, Meghan S.; Galindo-Uribarri, Alfredo; Liu, Yuan et al.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 361, 15.10.2015, p. 281-287.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Janzen, Meghan S.

AU - Galindo-Uribarri, Alfredo

AU - Liu, Yuan

AU - Mills, Gerald D.

AU - Romero-Romero, Elisa

AU - Stracener, Daniel W.

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N2 - We present results and discuss the use of aluminum nitride as a promising source material for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) science applications of 26Al isotopes. The measurement of 26Al in geological samples by AMS is typically conducted on Al2O3 targets. However, Al2O3 is not an ideal source material because it does not form a prolific beam of Al- required for measuring low-levels of 26Al. Multiple samples of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), aluminum nitride (AlN), mixed Al2O3-AlN as well as aluminum fluoride (AlF3) were tested and compared using the ion source test facility and the stable ion beam (SIB) injector platform at the 25-MV tandem electrostatic accelerator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Negative ion currents of atomic and molecular aluminum were examined for each source material. It was found that pure AlN targets produced substantially higher beam currents than the other materials and that there was some dependence on the exposure of AlN to air. The applicability of using AlN as a source material for geological samples was explored by preparing quartz samples as Al2O3 and converting them to AlN using a carbothermal reduction technique, which involved reducing the Al2O3 with graphite powder at 1600 °C within a nitrogen atmosphere. The quartz material was successfully converted to AlN. Thus far, AlN proves to be a promising source material and could lead towards increasing the sensitivity of low-level 26Al AMS measurements. The potential of using AlN as a source material for nuclear physics is also very promising by placing 26AlN directly into a source to produce more intense radioactive beams of 26Al.

AB - We present results and discuss the use of aluminum nitride as a promising source material for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs) science applications of 26Al isotopes. The measurement of 26Al in geological samples by AMS is typically conducted on Al2O3 targets. However, Al2O3 is not an ideal source material because it does not form a prolific beam of Al- required for measuring low-levels of 26Al. Multiple samples of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), aluminum nitride (AlN), mixed Al2O3-AlN as well as aluminum fluoride (AlF3) were tested and compared using the ion source test facility and the stable ion beam (SIB) injector platform at the 25-MV tandem electrostatic accelerator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Negative ion currents of atomic and molecular aluminum were examined for each source material. It was found that pure AlN targets produced substantially higher beam currents than the other materials and that there was some dependence on the exposure of AlN to air. The applicability of using AlN as a source material for geological samples was explored by preparing quartz samples as Al2O3 and converting them to AlN using a carbothermal reduction technique, which involved reducing the Al2O3 with graphite powder at 1600 °C within a nitrogen atmosphere. The quartz material was successfully converted to AlN. Thus far, AlN proves to be a promising source material and could lead towards increasing the sensitivity of low-level 26Al AMS measurements. The potential of using AlN as a source material for nuclear physics is also very promising by placing 26AlN directly into a source to produce more intense radioactive beams of 26Al.

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Janzen MS, Galindo-Uribarri A, Liu Y, Mills GD, Romero-Romero E, Stracener DW. The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. 2015 Oct 15;361:281-287. doi: 10.1016/j.nimb.2015.05.037

The use of aluminum nitride to improve Aluminum-26 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry measurements and production of Radioactive Ion Beams

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