10Be at iThemba LABS using a silicon nitride membrane stack as absorber for isobar suppression

S. Winkler, V. Mbele, R. Khosa, L. B. Corbett, P. Bierman, A. Hidy, T. Brown, T. V. Makhubela, J. Kramers, S. Tooth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

10Be is an important isotope for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) because of the demand for cosmogenic radionuclide dating methods in the earth science and paleo-sciences community. At the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Science (iThemba LABS) we implemented full suppression of the interfering isobar 10B using a silicon nitride foil-stack, utilizing the 2+ charge state for high efficiency. We demonstrate the performance of this newly established AMS system using standards and test samples. We further present the results of an inter-comparison between iThemba LABS and the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, on AMS samples prepared from purified quartz at the University of Vermont. The results for 10Be from the laboratories are in close agreement, fully consistent with cross-calibration between them. AMS results for 26Al are in similarly good agreement, demonstrating the performance and accuracy of iThemba LABS for the most commonly measured in situ produced cosmogenic nuclides.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)102-109
Number of pages8
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume540
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Keywords

  • 10-Be
  • Accelerator mass spectrometry
  • Isobar separation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Instrumentation

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