Isobar separation of 32Si from 32S in AMS using a passive absorber

Abstract

An accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) method has been developed to detect 32Si and separate it from its intense isobar 32S. This separation is achieved using a passive absorber cell in front of a gas ionization chamber at an energy of 30 MeV at the 6 MV Tandem accelerator at the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics (LIP) at the ETH Zurich. Thereby, the background originating from light recoils was identified and minimized. Additionally, the deviation of the position of the observed spectrum from the expected was explained. The new method is currently undergoing characterisations aiming for the half-life measurement of 32Si.