The AMS Instruments
NOSAMS Continuous-Flow AMS System (CFAMS)
Accelerator mass spectrometry, or AMS, is a method of radiocarbon analysis where atoms of 14C contained in a sample are directly counted. The current NOSAMS accelerator, the CFAMS instrument, was built and commissioned in 2006-2007. It is constructed around a National Electrostatics Corporation 500 kV pelletron accelerator. A bounced injection system with a modified MC-SNICS ion source as well as a microwave gas ion source are drawn on the left, and the high energy mass spectrometer and particle detection system is on the right.
Plan view of the continuous-flow AMS (CFAMS) system.
NOSAMS MIni CArbon DAting System (MICADAS)
In April of 2022, NOSAMS installed a new AMS system, called the MICADAS (MIni CArbon DAting System) made by Ionplus AG, Switzerland. In addition to being able to measure graphite samples, the MICADAS has a hybrid gas ion source interfaced to various peripherals including an Elemental Analyzer (EA) for organic samples, a Carbonate Handling System (CHS) for carbonate samples, and a tube cracking system for CO2 samples.
