Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T10:28:46.121Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comment on “Invalidation of the Intracavity Opto-galvanic Method for Radiocarbon Detection” by Cantwell G Carson, Martin Stute, Yinghuang Ji, Roseline Polle, Arthur Reboul, and Klaus S Lackner

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2016

Daniel E Murnick
Daniel E Murnick*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Carson et al. (2016) have measured the optogalvanic response of an intracavity cell discharge containing carbon dioxide enriched in radiocarbon in a 14CO2 laser, and compared same to an unenriched sample. The measurement was carried out by modulating the laser wavelength while slowly tuning through the laser gain profile. The results of the measurements are claimed to “invalidate the optogalvanic method for radiocarbon detection.” A broadband linear absorption model is presented in support of this hypothesis. In fact, the experimental design was such as to minimize any possibility for 14C detection, and the model presented is not relevant to their experiment. Crucial control measurements were not carried out and the model used did not differentiate between broadband absorption spectroscopy and intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy (ICOGS) with a narrow-band single-mode CO2 laser.

Keywords

intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopyICOGSlaser spectroscopyradiocarbon
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 227 - 230
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bachor, HA, Manson, PJ, Sandeman, RJ. 1982. Optogalvanic detection as a quantitative method in spectroscopy. Optics Communications 43(5):337–342.Google Scholar
Carson, CG, Stute, M, Ji, Y, Polle, R, Reboul, A, Lackenr, KS. 2016. Invalidation of the intracavity optogalvanic method for radiocarbon detection. Radiocarbon, in press.Google Scholar
Galli, I, Bartalini, S, Borri, S, Cancio, P, Mazzotti, D, De Natale, P, Giusfredi, G. 2011a. Molecular gas sensing below parts per trillion: radiocarbon-dioxide optical detection. Physical Review Letters 107(27):270802.Google Scholar
Galli, I, Pastor, PC, Di Lonardo, G, Fusina, L, Giusfredi, G, Mazzotti, D, Tamassia, F, De Natale, P. 2011b. The v3 band of 14C16O2 molecule measured by optical-frequency-comb-assisted cavity ring-down spectroscopy. Molecular Physics 109(17–18):2267–2272.Google Scholar
Genoud, G, Vainio, M, Phillips, H, Dean, J, Merimaa, M. 2015. Radiocarbon dioxide detetection based on cavity ring-down spectroscopy and a quantum cascade laser. Optics Letters 40(7):1342–1345.Google Scholar
Ilkmen, E. 2009. Intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy for radiocarbon with attomole sensitivity [PhD thesis]. Rutgers: Rutgers University.Google Scholar
Moffatt, S, Smith, ALS. 1984. Temperature perturbation model of the opto-galvanic effect in CO2 laser discharges. Journal of Physics: Applied Physics 17(1):59–70.Google Scholar
Murnick, DE. 2015. Laser based radiocarbon analysis. Presented at International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology: Revisiting Foundations and Exploring Frontiers, IAEA, Vienna, May 2015. http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/ih/documents/2015_Symposium/Session4/Murnick.pdf.Google Scholar
Murnick, DE, Okil, JO. 2005. Use of the optogalvanic effect (OGE) for isotope ratio spectrometry of 13CO2 and 14CO2 . Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies 41(4):363–371.Google Scholar
Murnick, DE, Dogru, O, Ilkmen, E. 2008. Intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy. An analytical technique for 14C analysis with subattomole sensitivity. Analytical Chemistry 80(13):4820–4824.Google Scholar
Paul, D, Meijer, HAJ. 2015. Intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy is not suitable for ambient level radiocarbon detection. Analytical Chemistry 87(17):9025–9032.Google Scholar
Persson, A, Eilers, G, Ryderfors, L, Mukhtar, E, Possnert, G, Salehpour, M. 2013. Evaluation of intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy for radiocarbon measurements. Analytical Chemistry 85(14):6790–6798.Google Scholar
Tachikawa, M, Shimizu, T. 1991. Rate-equation analysis of optogalvanic effect in CO2 laser medium. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 30:1111.Google Scholar