TY - JOUR
T1 - High-sensitivity detection of 244Pu via electron-cyclotron resonance ionization and linear acceleration
AU - Paul, M.
AU - Pardo, R.
AU - Ahmad, I.
AU - Greene, J.
AU - Henderson, D.
AU - Janssens, R. V.F.
AU - Jiang, C. L.
AU - Rehm, K. E.
AU - Scott, R.
AU - Seweryniak, D.
AU - Vondrasek, R.
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - The r-process nuclide 244Pu (t1/2 = 80.8 Myr) was extant in the Early Solar System and is presently considered as extinct. However, fresh 244Pu produced in the Galaxy, may reach the Solar System and Earth through influx of interstellar dust or as direct ejecta from supernovae. Detection of such traces requires high sensitivity, discrimination power and efficiency. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), despite low efficiency, is the method of choice. We report on the successful detection of 244Pu by AMS, using highly-charged positive ions produced in an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source and accelerated with the superconducting heavy-ion linear accelerator ATLAS at Argonne National Laboratory. 244Pu34+,35+,36+ ions with a final energy of 0.7 MeV/u were dispersed in m/q using the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA) and are well discriminated from parasitic ions. A count rate of 0.7 244Pu counts/min was observed for a sample containing 2.7 × 108 244Pu atoms/mg. The technique described here is presently used, with improved setup and accelerator conditions, for the measurement of neutron capture cross sections in the actinide region.
AB - The r-process nuclide 244Pu (t1/2 = 80.8 Myr) was extant in the Early Solar System and is presently considered as extinct. However, fresh 244Pu produced in the Galaxy, may reach the Solar System and Earth through influx of interstellar dust or as direct ejecta from supernovae. Detection of such traces requires high sensitivity, discrimination power and efficiency. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), despite low efficiency, is the method of choice. We report on the successful detection of 244Pu by AMS, using highly-charged positive ions produced in an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source and accelerated with the superconducting heavy-ion linear accelerator ATLAS at Argonne National Laboratory. 244Pu34+,35+,36+ ions with a final energy of 0.7 MeV/u were dispersed in m/q using the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA) and are well discriminated from parasitic ions. A count rate of 0.7 244Pu counts/min was observed for a sample containing 2.7 × 108 244Pu atoms/mg. The technique described here is presently used, with improved setup and accelerator conditions, for the measurement of neutron capture cross sections in the actinide region.
KW - Accelerator mass spectrometry
KW - Actinides
KW - Electron cyclotron resonance ion source
KW - Linear accelerator
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84870884718&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.nimb.2012.01.016
DO - 10.1016/j.nimb.2012.01.016
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AN - SCOPUS:84870884718
SN - 0168-583X
VL - 294
SP - 165
EP - 167
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
ER -