Ar-39 Detection at the 10^-16 Isotopic Abundance Level with Atom Trap Trace Analysis

Abstract

Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA), a laser-based atom counting method, has been applied to analyze atmospheric Ar-39 (half-life = 269 yr), a cosmogenic isotope with an isotopic abundance of 8x10^-16. In addition to the superior selectivity demonstrated in this work, counting rate and efficiency of ATTA have been improved by two orders of magnitude over prior results. Significant applications of this new analytical capability lie in radioisotope dating of ice and water samples and in the development of dark matter detectors.

References in corpus (3)

• First Dark Matter Results from the XENON100 Experiment
• First results from a Dark Matter search with liquid Argon at 87 K in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory
• A spectroscopic study of the cycling transition 4s[3/2]_2-4p[5/2]_3 at 811.8 nm in Ar-39: Hyperfine structure and isotope shift

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Radiometric 81Kr dating identifies 120,000 year old ice at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica
• Application of the Most Frequent Value Method for ${}^{39}$Ar Half-Life Determination
• Bichromatic force on metastable Argon for Atom Trap Trace Analysis
• Optically enhanced discharge excitation and trapping of ${}^{39}Ar$
• Robust Lifetime Estimation from HPGe Radiation-Sensor Time Series Using Pairwise Ratios and MFV Statistics