New Be-cathode preparation method for the ETH 6MV Tandem

Abstract

A new 10Be-cathode preparation method for the ETH 6 MV Tandem facility was developed. The method uses a mixture of Fe and Ag as sample matrix instead of the commonly used metals Cu or Ag. The performance of the Fe/Ag matrix was tested and compared to samples in Cu and Ag matrices under routine operating conditions. The results show that for samples containing 100 and 200 μg Be carrier, the apparent ion source efficiency is 1.5 times higher for the Fe/Ag matrix compared to samples prepared with Ag or Cu. The results also suggest that the optimal molar Fe/Be mixing ratio is between 1 and 2. With the current setup for 10Be, a detection efficiency (detected 10Be atoms vs. 10Be atoms in the sample holder) of (3–4) × 10−4 is reached after 20 min with the new Fe/Ag preparation method.