Dobson, J;
Ghag, C;
Manenti, L;
(2018)
Ultra-low background mass spectrometry for rare-event searches.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
, 879
pp. 25-30.
10.1016/j.nima.2017.10.014.
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Abstract
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) allows for rapid, high-sensitivity determination of trace impurities, notably the primordial radioisotopes 238 U and 232 Th, in candidate materials for low-background rare-event search experiments. We describe the setup and characterisation of a dedicated low-background screening facility at University College London where we operate an Agilent 7900 ICP-MS. The impact of reagent and carrier gas purity is evaluated and we show that twice-distilled ROMIL-SpA TM -grade nitric acid and zero-grade Ar gas delivers similar sensitivity to ROMIL-UpA TM -grade acid and research-grade gas. A straightforward procedure for sample digestion and analysis of materials with U/Th concentrations down to 10 ppt g/g is presented. This includes the use of 233 U and 230 Th spikes to correct for signal loss from a range of sources and verification of 238 U and 232 Th recovery through digestion and analysis of a certified reference material with a complex sample matrix. Finally, we demonstrate assays and present results from two sample preparation and assay methods: a high-sensitivity measurement of ultra-pure Ti using open digestion techniques, and a closed vessel microwave digestion of a nickel–chromium-alloy using a multi-acid mixture.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ultra-low background mass spectrometry for rare-event searches |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nima.2017.10.014 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.10.014 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Low background, Radiopurity, Dark matter, Neutrinoless double beta decay, Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10039630 |
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