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The Radiocarbon Intracavity Optogalvanic Spectroscopy Setup at Uppsala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Gerriet Eilers
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
Anders Persson
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
Cecilia Gustavsson
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
Linus Ryderfors
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
Emad Mukhtar
Affiliation:
Dept. of Chemistry, ångström Laboratory, Box 523, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
Göran Possnert
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
Mehran Salehpour*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Ion Physics, Box 516, SE-751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
*
3Corresponding author: [email protected].

Abstract

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is by far the predominant technology deployed for radiocarbon tracer studies. Applications are widespread from archaeology to biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical sciences. In spite of its excellent performance, AMS is expensive and complicated to operate. Consequently, alternative detection techniques for 14C are of great interest, with the vision of a compact, user-friendly, and inexpensive analytical method. Here, we report on the use of intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy (ICOGS) for measurements of the 14C/12C ratio. This new detection technique was developed by Murnick et al. (2008). In the infrared (IR) region, CO2 molecules have strong absorption coefficients. The IR-absorption lines are narrow in line width and shifted for different carbon isotopes. These properties can potentially be exploited to detect 14CO2, 13CO2, or 12CO2 molecules unambiguously. In ICOGS, the sample is in the form of CO2 gas, eliminating the graphitization step that h is required in most AMS labs. The status of the ICOGS setup in Uppsala is presented. The system is operational but not yet fully developed. Data are presented for initial results that illustrate the dependence of the optogalvanic signal on various parameters, such as background and plasma-induced changes in the sample gas composition.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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