Status of mass spectrometric radiocarbon detection at ETHZ

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• 作者：Martin Seiler ; Sascha Maxeiner ; Lukas Wacker ; Hans-Arno Synal
• 关键词：Radiocarbon AMS ; C14 ; He stripping ; Mass spectrometry
• 刊名：Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：15 October 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：361
• 期：Complete
• 页码：245-249
• 全文大小：1093 K

文摘

A prototype of a mass spectrometric radiocarbon detection instrument without accelerator stage was built for the first time and set into operation at ETH Zurich. The system is designed as an experimental platform to optimize performance of ¹⁴C detection at low ion energies and to study the most relevant processes that may limit system performance. The optimized stripper unit incorporates differential pumping to maintain a low gas outflow and a revised tube design to better match the phase space volume of the ion beam at low energies. The system is fully operational and has demonstrated true radiocarbon dating capabilities. The overall beam transmission through the stripper tube is about 40% for the 1⁺ charge state. Radiocarbon analyses with an overall precision of 0.6% were obtained on a single sample under regular measurement conditions. By analyzing multiple targets of the same sample material an uncertainty level of 0.3% has been reached. The background level corresponds to a radiocarbon age of 40,000 years.