Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Systems

Product Features

C, Al, Be, I, Ca, Cl, and actinide AMS measurement possible
Dual ion source systems available for versatility and high throughput capability
Modern carbon backgrounds as low as 3 · 10^-16
Precision of 0.3% or better for C
Precision of better than 2% for Al, Be, I, and Ca
All metal/ceramic acceleration tubes with no organic material in the vacuum volume
Automated data collection and analysis
Fully interlocked system designed for unattended operation

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) is a technique for high precision measurement of radioisotope ratios. This technique is used for a large range of applications. NEC provides a wide variety of accelerators designed specifically for AMS.

AMS is used to measure ratios of many different elements including, but not limited to, carbon, beryllium, aluminum, calcium, iodine, chlorine, and the actinides. NEC can provide a system specifically designed for measurement of the specific radioisotope ratios in which the user is interested.

NEC offers low energy AMS systems for measurement of the above elements with the exception of chlorine. Higher energy systems are designed for chlorine measurement and for versatile systems that can perform AMS and Ion Beam Analysis (IBA)

No two NEC accelerators are exactly the same – they are all custom designed to accommodate user requirements. Dual ion source configurations are available for all models.

Low Energy AMS Systems

SSAMS

250kV HV deck
Designed for carbon AMS
Based on an open-air deck design, eliminating need for an SF₆ pressure vessel

CAMS

500kV tandem Pelletron
Designed for carbon AMS
Improved background and higher throughput compared to SSAMS

XCAMS

500kV tandem Pelletron
Designed for carbon, beryllium, and aluminum AMS
Based on the CAMS design with bigger magnets and a final 45° magnet for improved beryllium background

ICAMS

500kV tandem Pelletron
Designed for iodine and carbon AMS
Larger magnets with high-energy magnet bouncing to accommodate ¹²⁵I, ¹²⁷I, ¹²⁹I isotope measurements

UAMS

1MV tandem Pelletron
Designed for carbon, beryllium, aluminum, iodine, and calcium AMS
Magnet size and optical elements designed specifically to add calcium isotope measurement capability

Actinide AMS

1MV tandem Pelletron
Designed to be the most versatile compact AMS system capable of, but not limited to, carbon, beryllium, aluminum, calcium, and the actinides
Two high-energy magnets with bouncing
Simultaneous measurement of up to 8 isotopes

High Energy AMS

NEC offers 3MV and 6MV systems that can measure the same radioisotope ratios as the low energy AMS systems along with the capability of measuring chlorine. The primary advantage of these higher energy systems is lower backgrounds.

Higher energy systems, such as our versatile AMS and IBA system, are designed for users that require the ability to perform AMS and IBA measurements on a single system.

3MV AMS system with pressure vessel moved for servicing the accelerator column

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