Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

1 Publication

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and ion beam analysis (IBA) with the new 6 MV accelerator at FZ Dresden-Rossendorf

Munnik, F.; Grambole, D.; Grötzschel, R.; Merchel, S.; Neelmeijer, C.

Since more than 30 years IBA is performed at the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (FZD) for the determination of element distributions. Due to continuous upgrades of the different experimental set-ups, we are able to routinely perform:

• Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) & Channeling (C-RBS)
• Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA)
• Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA)
• Particle-Induced X-Ray (PIXE) and Gamma-Emission (PIGE)
Most of our applications lie within material sciences. We are able to measure non-destructively “all natural” elements, i.e. H to U; most elements with lateral, some in 3-D resolution with the following typical parameters (matrix- and analyte-depending):
• depth resolution: 1-30 nm
• depth range: nm-µm
• lateral resolution: few µm
• usual mapping area: 2x2 mm2
• maximum sample size: 3x10 cm2 (vacuum) & “unlimited” (external beam)
• detection limits: ~10 µg/g (H); 500 µg/g – 1% (He-F); 10-100 µg/g (Na-U)
For some elements, e.g. H/D, isotope analysis is also possible.
In summer 2009, our 5 MV van-de-Graaff accelerator will be replaced by the latest 6 MV Tandetron model [1], which is even more sophisticated than the lately installed 5 MV one in Southern France [2]. The new accelerator will need less maintenance generally allowing more beam time. It might be also possible to expand from two to three 8-hour-shifts a day with the new fully automatic system. Scientifically, the main advantages are an increased depth range by a factor of 2 for ERDA and improved detection limits for NRA.
In addition, the machine will have special equipment for AMS [3]. There is a main advantage of using a high-energy accelerator for mass spectrometry: The background and interfering signals, resulting from molecular ions and ions with similar masses (e.g. isobars) are nearly completely eliminated. Thus, AMS provides much lower detection limits compared to conventional mass spectrometry (isotope ratios: 10-10-10-15).
In contrast to common low-energy AMS facilities, which have mainly specialized in radiocarbon analyses (14C), the FZD-AMS is the first modern-type facility in the EU that will run at a terminal voltage of 6 MV. Especially in environmental and geosciences, the determination of long-lived (t1/2 > 0.3 Ma) cosmogenic radionuclides like 10Be, 26Al, and 36Cl became more and more important within the last decades [4]. Using these nuclides dating of e.g. volcanic eruptions, rock avalanches, earth quakes, and glacier movements is possible.
References: [1] A. Gottdang et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 2002, 190, 177. [2] M.G. Klein et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 2008, 266, 1828. [3] http://www.fzd.de/ams. [4] J.C. Gosse and F.M. Phillips, Quat. Sci. Rev. 2001, 20, 1475.

Keywords: accelerator mass spectrometry; ion beam analysis

  • Poster
    ANAKON 2009, 17.-20.03.2008, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-11963
Publ.-Id: 11963