Nondestructive determination of the C13 content in isotopic diamond by nuclear resonance fluorescence

Abstract

Nuclear resonance fluorescence excited with continuous electron bremsstrahlung from the 4.3 MV Stuttgart Dynamitron accelerator is used as a nondestructive method to determine the C13 content x of bulk isotopic diamonds (12C1−x13Cx). The smallest detectable amount of C13 in carbon or low Z matrices is on the order of 0.5 mg. The relative accuracy of absolute mass determinations is about ±7%. Errors are mainly due to uncertainties in the natural widths Γ of the C13 nuclear levels at 3089 and 3684 keV used in the measurements. The results confirm a previous calibration which is based on Raman scattering and the destructive determination of x by mass spectroscopy.