Ar39 Detection at the 10^-16 Isotopic Abundance Level with Atom Trap Trace Analysis

Authors

W. Jiang, Argonne National Laboratory
William Williams, Argonne National LaboratoryFollow
K. Bailey, Argonne National Laboratory
A. M. Davis, The Enrico Fermi Institute
S. M. Hu, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale
Z. T. Lu, Argonne National Laboratory
T. P. O'Connor, Argonne National Laboratory
R. Purtschert, University of Bern
N. C. Sturchio, University of Illinois at Chicago
Y. R. Sun, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale
P. Mueller, Argonne National Laboratory

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-9-2011

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

Abstract

Atom trap trace analysis, a laser-based atom counting method, has been applied to analyze atmospheric Ar39 (half-life=269yr), a cosmogenic isotope with an isotopic abundance of 8×10-16. In addition to the superior selectivity demonstrated in this work, the counting rate and efficiency of atom trap trace analysis have been improved by 2 orders of magnitude over prior results. The significant applications of this new analytical capability lie in radioisotope dating of ice and water samples and in the development of dark matter detectors. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Volume

106

Issue

10

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.103001

ISSN

00319007

Rights

© 2011 American Physical Society

Comments

Archived as published.

Recommended Citation

Jiang, W.; Williams, William; Bailey, K.; Davis, A. M.; Hu, S. M.; Lu, Z. T.; O'Connor, T. P.; Purtschert, R.; Sturchio, N. C.; Sun, Y. R.; and Mueller, P., "Ar39 Detection at the 10^-16 Isotopic Abundance Level with Atom Trap Trace Analysis" (2011). Physics: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/phy_facpubs/89