Status of the “new” AMS facility in Trondheim

Abstract

The Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim has a long history, dating back to the 1950s. Its relatively new AMS facility is based on a 1MV Tandetron from High Voltage Engineering Europa B.V. that is equipped with a hybrid solid/gas SO-110 ion source, a low energy spectrometer supporting sequential injection, a high energy analysis system consisting of a magnet and an electrostatic deflector, allowing insertion of an absorber foil for isobar suppression, and a two dimensional gas ionisation detector (E and ΔE). The system is at present capable of measuring 10Be, 14C, and 26Al and can be easily modified to measure isotopes of higher masses.Acceptance tests results for 10Be1+, 14C2+, 26Al1+, and 26Al3+ are presented. The laboratory measures only 14C at present and the routine procedures are described.The system has demonstrated a very low background (70,000 14C years BP or 2·10−16 on Alfa Aesar 40795 graphite powder, −200 mesh, 99.9995%) for 14C when charge state 2+ is measured and the interference of Li ions in the detector is minimal. Some ion optical peculiarities of the system are also discussed.