First experiments at the new 6 MV-Tandetron at HZDR

The 6 MV tandem type accelerator replaces the old 5 MV machine in the beginning of 2011. Besides ion beam analysis (IBA) and material modification via high-energy ion implantation, the system is equipped for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The first interest is in the radioisotopes ¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, ³⁶Cl, ⁴¹Ca, and ¹²⁹I [1]. An energy calibration of the machine and a test of ion beam energy stability have been carried out as a first experiment using the ¹H(¹⁵N,alpha gamma)¹²C nuclear reaction with a sharp resonance at anenergy of 6385 keV. The total energy resolution for the system is about 12 keV. First tests of the Dresden AMS system (DREAMS) [2] have been performed and demonstrated background levels of 2E-16 for ¹⁰Be/⁹Be, 7E-16 for ²⁶Al/²⁷Al and 8E-15 for ⁴¹Ca/⁴⁰Ca, respectively. The background of 2E-13 for ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I originates from intrinsic ¹²⁹I (MERCK KI), whereas the reasons for high ³⁶Cl/³⁵Cl background of 3E-15 are under discussion.

References:

[1] Sh. Akhmadaliev et al., MS6.2, DPG Frühjahrstagung der Sektion AMOP, Hannover 2010.
[2] www.dresden-ams.de