Low energy limits of AMS
It has always been a challenge to make long-lived radionuclide detection possible with the most simplified and compact instrumentation. Having available easy to instrumentation with superior performance has had a significant impact on applied research and especially for radiocarbon the availability of MICADAS like AMS systems has opened up a new quality of dating applications.
To improve the radiocarbon detection instrumentation even further, a new accelerator was designed, reintroducing the acceleration unit with a terminal voltage in the range between 50 and 60 kV. This means an energy of the order of 100 keV at the molecular suppression stage. A prototype system has been set-up in collaboration with external pageIonplus AG and reach full radiocarbon dating performance in 2020.
With the novel MILEA AMS we have the opportunity to focus on improving performance for radionuclides other than radiocarbon. With 10Be and 26Al, two radionuclides important for the exposure age dating applications, we are exploring possibilities of high-precision analyses. Having a mass range of up to the end of the periodic table we are exploring detection of uranium and plutonium isotopes as well as other trans uranium actinides.
