Methodological Study on AMS Measurement of U Isotope Ratios in Nanogram U Samples

The determination of uranium isotopic composition in trace samples is important in different fields. A new measurement method that uses an accelerator mass spectrometry （AMS） technique has been developed for the analysis of uranium isotopic ratios in ultra-trace uranium samples at the China Institute of Atomic Energy. As result, about 5-nanogram level uranium samples analyzed with AMS is achieved.     

90Mo电磁跃迁几率的测量

利用束流能量为116MeV的⁵⁹Co(³⁵Cl,2p2n)⁹⁰Mo反应布居⁹⁰Mo的高自旋态.用10台反康普顿HPGe探测器组成的探测阵列进行γγ符合测量.通过多普勒展宽峰的形状分析测定⁹⁰Mo高自旋态的寿命.在正宇称衰变系观察到增强的M1跃迁,推断I=13以上是扁椭形变.负宇称高自旋态具有大的B(E2)值,并随自旋增大而起伏变化.正、负宇称态之间的跃迁显示增大的E1跃迁,似有八极关联的可能.但是,⁹⁰Mo并不处在理论预言的存在八极形变的核区内.     

用HI-13串列加速器质谱装置测量182Hf的研究

¹⁸²Hf的半衰期为(8.90±0.09)Ma, 是一个接近灭绝的放射性核素. 超新星爆炸是自然界中已知的惟一能产生¹⁸²Hf的途径. 因此¹⁸²Hf是研究近1亿年来在地球附近可能发生的超新星事件的理想核素. 另外, ¹⁸²Hf是核工程中特别感兴趣的一个长寿命放射性核素. 精确测量超痕量的¹⁸²Hf对反应堆的设计和核天体物理学以及其他研究领域都是非常重要的. 用加速器质谱有可能实现对超低含量¹⁸²Hf的测量. 在中国原子能科学研究院的HI-13加速器质谱装置上对¹⁸²Hf的测量方法以及样品的化学去钨方法进行了研究, 分别得到了空白样品以及系列标准样品的¹⁸²Hf和¹⁸³W的能量-飞行时间双维谱. ¹⁸²W对¹⁸²Hf计数的贡献是通过测量¹⁸³W的计数归一扣除的. 目前本工作对¹⁸²Hf的测量灵敏度为4.15±10^－11 (¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf比值).     

Measurements of 79Se with AMS based on extracting molecular negative ions

A new method for measuring selenium-79 with AMS, which is based on extracting molecular negative ions, is described in this paper. According to the experimental results, the extraction ion form SeO₂^－ could depress the interference of Bromine-79 as much as 5 order levels, that is to say, the background of ⁷⁹Br can be deducted to ⁷⁹Br/Se≈10^－10. By the way, the chemical form of sample and preparation flow was also developed. Finally, three ⁷⁹Se AMS calibration standard samples with theoretical ⁷⁹Se/Se ratios of 5.06×10^－7, 6.87×10^－8, 5.40×10^－10 were obtained and the method of ⁷⁹Se measurement was set up, which actualized transmission and detection of ⁷⁹Se. By using our Bragg curve detector, the two isobars ⁷⁹Br and ⁷⁹Se could be partly identified to a certain extent and ⁷⁹Se can be identified from ⁷⁹Br about 1 order level. AMS measurements of the three calibration standard samples above were performed and good linearity was obtained. The sensitivity of the measurement is (5.16±1.80)×10^－11.     

Primary result of ^236U measurement with accelerator mass spectrometry at CIAE

The rare isotope ^236U has a half-life of 2.342（3）×107 years, and is produced principally by thermal neutron capture on ^235U. The isotopic atom ratio of ^236U/^238U depends on the integral thermal neutron flux received by the material of interest. ^236U is potentially useful as a ＂fingerprint＂ for indicating the presence of neutron-irradiated uranium usually originating from nuclear activity. By extracting negative molecular ion UO^- from the uranium oxide target, simulating the ^236U^16O^- beam transport with ^238U^16O^- and ^208Pb2^16O^- pilot molecular ion beam, transporting the ^236U-containing ion beam with a high resolution injection magnet analyzer and electrostatic analyzer system, and finally identifying and detecting ^236U with a time-of-flight detector （TOF）, a method for AMS （Accelerator Mass Spectrometry） measurement of ^236U was established on the HI-13 Accelerator AMS system at China Institute of Atomic Energy.     

Primary result of ~(236)U measurement with accelerator mass spectrometry at CIAE

The rare isotope 236U has a half-life of 2.342(3)×107 years,and is produced principally by thermal neutron capture on 235U.The isotopic atom ratio of 236U/238U depends on the integral thermal neutron flux received by the material of interest.236U is potentially useful as a fingerprint for indicating the presence of neutron-irradiated uranium usually originating from nuclear activity.By extracting negative molecular ion UO- from the uranium oxide target,simulating the 236U16O- beam transport with 238U16O- an...     

Measurement of the half-life of ~(79)Se with accelerator mass spectrometry

The accelerator mass spectrometry(AMS) is an effective method for the determination of the half-life of long-lived radionuclides. In this paper, we report a method for measurement of the half-life of79 Se. The number of79 Se atoms was determined from measured79Se/Se absolute ratios with the AMS system at the China Institute of Atomic Energy and the decay rate of79 Se was determined by counting the emitted β-rays with a liquid scintillation spectrometer. The major improvements of our measurements include using the high abundance of an79 Se sample which was cooled for many years to exclude the interference of short-lived nuclides, the extraction of SeO-2molecular ions, that results in a suppression of the79 Br background by as much as about five orders of magnitude. Also, an AMS measurement of the absolute ratio of79Se/Se was developed to avoid systematic errors. The results show that79Se/Se is(2.35±0.12)×10-7in the reference sample and the radioactivity of79 Se is(1.24±0.05) Bq/g, so the half-life of79 Se is(2.78±0.18)×105a.     

Developments in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) method for 182Hf

The present detection limit for ¹⁸²Hf at CIAE HI-13 AMS systems could not satisfy various applications (e. g. detection of a nearby supernovae signal). Therefore, techniques were developed in this work to improve the AMS measurement of ¹⁸²Hf mainly on building a new injector and using a method that based on solid-phase reaction for the preparation of HfF₄ samples from HfO₂. The experimental results show that mass resolution of the injector can reached 630, and the F^－/O－ and beam current of ¹⁸⁰HfF₅^－ for HfF₄ samples produced by dry method is about 2—3 times and 1.5 times of that by previously method, respectively.     

A Bragg curve detector and its application in AMS measurements for medium-weight nuclides

The schematic layout and principle of a Bragg curve detector were showed in this paper. A Bragg curve detector was systemically modified and its performance was improved. The total energy resolution of the detector is 0.9% for alpha particle at energy of 5.48 MeV from ²⁴¹Am source, and the Bragg Peak resolution is 1.6%. Measurement of medium-weight nuclides by using the Bragg curve detector were carried at CIAE-AMS system. series of ³⁶Cl and ⁴¹Ca standard samples were measured. The results showed that this Bragg curve detector could clearly identify isobars ³⁶Cl-³⁶S and ⁴¹Ca-⁴¹K. The results also showed that the ΔZ/Z of 1/47, corresponding to Bragg Peak resolution is 2.1% at ion atomic number of about 16. The Bragg curve detector can be successfully used for AMS measurement.     

加速器质谱测量53Mn及其在地球科学中的应用

宇宙成因核素 53Mn是一种非常理想的地貌演变研究工具。近年来, 随着加速器质谱（AMS）技术的不断发展, 人们已能够进行53Mn的高灵敏测量。介绍了53Mn在地球科学中的应用前景、 国际研究现状及中国原子能科学研究院目前正在开展的53Mn高灵敏AMS测量方法的研究。The determination of cosmogenic 53Mn concentrations found in terrestrial formations has many interesting applications for Earth Sciences. With Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) it should be possible to detect minute amounts of 53Mn. The situation of international research of 53Mn AMS measurement and applications are presented. The AMS measurement method of 53Mn at China Institute of Atomic Energy and its applications prospect are to be explored.