Challenges and opportunities in high-precision Be-10 measurements at CAMS

Rood, D.H., Hall, S., Guilderson, T.P., Finkel, R.C. and Brown, T.A. (2010) Challenges and opportunities in high-precision Be-10 measurements at CAMS. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 268(7-8), pp. 730-732. (doi: 10.1016/j.nimb.2009.10.016)

Abstract

We determined the overall efficiency for 10Be of the high-intensity LLNL modified Middleton cesium sputter source in combination with the CAMS FN mass spectrometer. BeO− ionization efficiency is >3%. Charge exchange efficiency including transmission through the tandem for 7.5 MeV Be+3 is ∼34%, resulting in a total system efficiency of just over 1%. At this efficiency and with very low backgrounds, we estimate our detection limit to be ∼1000 10Be atoms. Cathodes prepared with only ∼80 μg of 9Be show only an ∼33% reduction in 9Be beam current compared to a sample with ∼200 μg. These same samples, prepared from 07KNSTD1032 standard material, contained 1 × 107 and 5 × 10610Be atoms and exhibited similar ionization and total system efficiency. These results demonstrate the feasibility of pursuing applications that require precise measurement of samples with low 10Be concentrations and/or small sample size.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rood, Dr Dylan
• Authors: Rood, D.H., Hall, S., Guilderson, T.P., Finkel, R.C., and Brown, T.A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
• Journal Name: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
• ISSN: 0168-583X
• Published Online: 07 October 2009