Radiochemical separation and analytical determination of 10Be from proton-irradiated graphite targets

Abstract

High-concentration samples of carrier-free 10Be (up to 1 μg 10Be per gram graphite) were separated from proton-irradiated graphite targets used at the meson production unit of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). 10Be concentrations were determined both with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The analytical results from both methods are in good agreement. The highly enriched 10Be-samples will be used in scientific experiments relating to basic nuclear research and nuclear astrophysics in the framework of an international collaboration aimed to exploit accelerator waste material for scientific applications.