Single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon-interference identification and positive-ionisation characterisation

Abstract

A single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) is a good alternative to conventional spectrometers based on tandem electrostatic acceleration for radiocarbon measurement and permits experimentation with both negative and positive carbon ions. However, such 14C AMS of either polarity ions is limited by an interference. In the case of anion acceleration we have newly determined this to be summed 13C and 16O by improvising an additional Wien filter on our SSAMS deck. Also, 14C AMS might be improved by removing its dependency on negative-ionisation in a sputter ion source. This requires negative-ionisation of sample atoms elsewhere to suppress the 14N interference, which we accomplish by transmitting initially positive ions through a thin membrane. The ionisation dependence on ion-energy is found to be consistent with previous experimentation with vapours and thicker foils.