Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Recent results on the low-pressure GEM-based TPC at an Accelerator Mass Spectrometer. / Bondar, A.; Parkhomchuk, V.; Petrozhitsky, A. et al.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 1080, 170810, 11.2025.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Recent results on the low-pressure GEM-based TPC at an Accelerator Mass Spectrometer
AU - Bondar, A.
AU - Parkhomchuk, V.
AU - Petrozhitsky, A.
AU - Shakirova, T.
AU - Sokolov, A.
N1 - This work was supported in part by Russian Science Foundation, Russia (project no. 23-22-00359).
PY - 2025/11
Y1 - 2025/11
N2 - The Accelerator Mass Spectrometry technique makes it possible to measure rare long-lived isotopes such as 10Be, 14C, 26Al, 36Cl, 41Ca and 129I. The content of these isotopes can be at the level of 10−15 of the total element content. The Accelerator Mass Spectrometer developed by Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP AMS) successfully measures the concentration of 14C relative to 12C. However, there is a problem of separating the 10B isobaric background from 10Be. Beryllium-10 is used to date geological objects on a time scale from 1 thousand years to 10 million years. To solve this problem we have proposed a new technique for ion identification based on measuring both ion track ranges and ion energies in a low-pressure Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) with Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) readout. We have developed the TPC with a dedicated thin silicon nitride window for an efficient passage of ions. To begin with, the characteristic of the low-pressure TPC were studied in isobutane at a pressure of 50 torr using alpha particle sources. In this work, we set up the low-pressure TPC on BINP AMS facility and successfully measured track ranges and energies of ions from samples containing 14C. At the next stage, we are going to carry out measurements with samples containing 10Be. However, using the results obtained from the experiment and SRIM simulations confirm that the developed detector provides effective suppression of the 10B background in the region of interest for 10Be detection. This level of background reduction is sufficient for application in AMS for dating geological objects, namely for geochronology of Cenozoic era.
AB - The Accelerator Mass Spectrometry technique makes it possible to measure rare long-lived isotopes such as 10Be, 14C, 26Al, 36Cl, 41Ca and 129I. The content of these isotopes can be at the level of 10−15 of the total element content. The Accelerator Mass Spectrometer developed by Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP AMS) successfully measures the concentration of 14C relative to 12C. However, there is a problem of separating the 10B isobaric background from 10Be. Beryllium-10 is used to date geological objects on a time scale from 1 thousand years to 10 million years. To solve this problem we have proposed a new technique for ion identification based on measuring both ion track ranges and ion energies in a low-pressure Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) with Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) readout. We have developed the TPC with a dedicated thin silicon nitride window for an efficient passage of ions. To begin with, the characteristic of the low-pressure TPC were studied in isobutane at a pressure of 50 torr using alpha particle sources. In this work, we set up the low-pressure TPC on BINP AMS facility and successfully measured track ranges and energies of ions from samples containing 14C. At the next stage, we are going to carry out measurements with samples containing 10Be. However, using the results obtained from the experiment and SRIM simulations confirm that the developed detector provides effective suppression of the 10B background in the region of interest for 10Be detection. This level of background reduction is sufficient for application in AMS for dating geological objects, namely for geochronology of Cenozoic era.
KW - Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy (AMS)
KW - Gaseous detectors
KW - Micropattern gaseous detectors
KW - Particle identification methods
KW - Time projection chambers (TPC)
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/5cbce508-d43b-35af-930f-6e1922fe827f/
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=105009887975&origin=inward
U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2025.170810
DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2025.170810
M3 - Article
VL - 1080
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
SN - 0168-9002
M1 - 170810
ER -
ID: 68404023