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MICADAS: Routine and High-Precision Radiocarbon Dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

L Wacker*
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
G Bonani
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
M Friedrich
Affiliation:
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany Institute of Botany, University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany
I Hajdas
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
B Kromer
Affiliation:
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany Institute of Botany, University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany
M Němec
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
M Ruff
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
M Suter
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
H-A Synal
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
C Vockenhuber
Affiliation:
Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
*
Corresponding author. Email: wacker@phys.ethz.ch
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Abstract

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The prototype mini carbon dating system (MICADAS) at ETH Zurich has been in routine operation for almost 2 yr. Because of its simple and compact layout, setting up a radiocarbon measurement is fast and the system runs very reliably over days or even weeks without retuning. The stability of the instrument is responsible for the good performance in highest-precision measurements where results of single samples can be reproduced within less than 2‰. The measurements are described and the performance of MICADAS is demonstrated on measured data.

Type
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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