Quality assurance in accelerator mass spectrometry: Results from an international round-robin exercise for 10Be

Author(s)

Silke Merchel, W. Bremser, S. Akhmadaliev, Maurice Arnold, Georges Aumaitre, Didier L. Bourles, Régis Braucher, Marc William Caffee, Marcus Christl, L. Keith Fifield, Robert C. Finkel, Stewart P. H. T. Freeman, A. Ruiz-Gómez, Peter W. Kubik, Martin Martschini, Dylan H. Rood, Stephen G. Tims, Anton Wallner, Klaus M. Wilcken, S. Xu

Abstract

The first international round-robin exercise for the measurement of the long-lived radionuclide Be-10 has been conducted. Ten participating accelerator mass spectrometry CAMS) facilities have each measured three samples at the 10(-12) to 10(-14) Be-10/Be-9 level. All results have been made traceable to the NISI SRM 4325 standard to avoid additional discrepancies that arise when different facilities use different calibration materials. Hence, the data concentrates on pure measurement distinctions. Multivariate statistical investigations have been performed to reveal a bias between facilities, i.e. two distinguished groups could be identified. Maximum discrepancies between two single facilities are in the range of 6-31% depending on the absolute Be-10/Be-9 value. These findings should be considered when comparing Be-10 data produced at one AMS facility with that produced at another facility, which is e.g. often the case for in situ Be-10 dating studies. Round-robin exercises are a very helpful tool as part of an overall quality assurance scheme to improve the accuracy, and not only the precision, of AMS data.

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics

External organisation(s)

Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, CEREGE - Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement, Purdue University, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Australian National University, University of Glasgow, Universidad de Sevilla, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Journal

Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research. Section B. Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms

Volume

289

Pages

68-73

No. of pages

6

ISSN

0168-583X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2012.07.038

Publication date

2012

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

1030 Physics, Astronomy

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/3149aa87-f8b2-4804-80dc-660742715c74