The new sample preparation line for radiocarbon measurements at the INFN Bari Laboratory

Abstract

Many versatile applications in the life/earth science are based on the measurement of the radiocarbon. These applications are often limited by the minimum amount of carbon that can be measured in the sample: minimum size radiocarbon samples can be affected by contamination introduced during the sample preparation. Comprehensive systematic investigations to reduce the sample size limit down to a few micrograms carbon are currently in progress in the INFN CHNet − Lilliput experiment. For such goal, a new original graphite preparation facility has been installed at the INFN Laboratory of Bari (Italy). The CO 2 from the combusted sample is purified using a simple vacuum line set-up. The produced graphite targets will be measured using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the INFN-LABEC Laboratory of Florence (Italy) where, since 2004, sample measurements for radiocarbon dating are performed. • A new original graphite preparation facility has been installed at the INFN Laboratory of Bari (Italy). • The procedure to convert a raw sample into suitable graphite involves three stages: the pre-treatment process, the combustion of the sample and the graphitization process. • The produced graphite targets is measured using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the INFN-LABEC Laboratory of Florence (Italy). • Preliminary performance results have been obtained and several tests are planned with several materials.