NID Copper Sample Analysis

摘要

The current focal point of the nuclear physics program at PNNL is the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, and the follow-on Tonne-Scale experiment, a large array of ultra-low background high-purity germanium detectors, enriched in 76Ge, designed to search for zero-neutrino double-beta decay. This experiment requires the use of germanium isotopically enriched in 76Ge. The DEMONSTRATOR will utilize 76Ge from Russia, but for the Tonne-Scale experiment it is hoped that an alternate technology under development at Nonlinear Ion Dynamics (NID) will be a viable, US-based, lower-cost source of separated material. Samples of separated material from NID require analysis to determine the isotopic distribution and impurities. The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a DOE and NSF funded project with a major science impact. DOE is funding NID through an SBIR grant for development of their separation technology for application to the Tonne-Scale experiment. The Environmental Molecular Sciences facility (EMSL), a DOE user facility at PNNL, has the required mass spectroscopy instruments for making these isotopic measurements that are essential to the quality assurance for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and for the development of the future separation technology required for the Tonne-Scale experiment. A sample of isotopically separated copper was provided by NID to PNNL for isotopic analysis as a test of the NID technology.