Development of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at the Lund Pelletron

Abstract

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a highly sensitive method for counting atoms. It is used for detecting very low concentrations of both radionuclides and stable nuclides. The main advantages of AMS compared to conventional radiometric methods are the use of smaller samples (mg size) and shorter measuring times (less than one hour). In AMS, rare isotopes from a sample material placed in the ion source of an electrostatic tandem accelerator are measured by counting individual atoms with nuclear detection techniques after acceleration to energies in the MeV range. A dramatic improvement in background rejection for AMS systems has, in the best cases, led to a 108 increase in sensitivity for isotope ratio measurements compared to the older technique of mass spectrometry. In this report some current applications of the AMS technique at the Lund Pelletron accelerator, as well as the recent improvements of the Lund system, are presented.