We are developing techniques for the preparation and analysis of ultra small samples using a compact AMS system (NEC 0.5MV 1.5SDH-2 AMS). Preliminary results using a variety of standards samples raging from 5µg to 1mgC will be reported. High performance on ultra small samples is possible due to a modified NEC Mc-SNIC ion-source that generates 12C¯ beam currents ranging from 5 to 150µA for the sample sizes mentioned above. Source efficiencies are in excess of 10%, which enables 4-5% of the radiocarbon atoms in 5-10µg samples to be measured. We will discuss these results, the calculations used to correct the background contamination, the small sample preparation techniques and our plans to decrease the sample size measurement limit still further.
Web Page: www.ess.uci.edu/AMS
See more of Poster Session II
See more of The 10th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (September 5-10, 2005)