Developing a detection method of environmental 244Pu

S. Winkler*, I. Ahmad, R. Golser, W. Kutschera, K. A. Orlandini, M. Paul, A. Priller, P. Steier, A. Valenta, C. Vockenhuber

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

The long-lived radionuclide 244Pu (t1/2=80. 8±1.0 Ma) is a candidate for the detection as a live remnant of close-lying and relatively recent supernovae in geological records on the earth. We will present the development of an AMS method for measuring 244Pu at the low abundance levels which are expected for natural 244Pu. For artificial samples prepared from chemically pure reagents a sensitivity of more than 3×10-6 counts in detector per atom in sputter target was achieved. For true sediment samples the detector background induced by chemical impurities and possible cross contamination from high level standards were identified as the present limitations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)817-822
Number of pages6
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume223-224
Issue numberSPEC. ISS.
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2004

Keywords

  • Pu
  • AMS
  • Sediments
  • Supernova

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Developing a detection method of environmental 244Pu'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this