Preparation of Plant 41Ca Tracer Samples for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

Calcium plays an important role in the metabolism of plants and animals. In this paper, the preparation method of plant 41Ca for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement was developed for the first time in China. AMS, with its advantages of high sensitivity, small dose of radioactivity, high accuracy, large measuring range, and long tracer cycle, can be used to measure cosmogenic nuclide 41Ca , which has long half-life. The intensity of the beam in ion source is an important parameter for the sensitivity of AMS measurement. The high beam current can improve the sensitivity of AMS. The preparation methods of plant samples of 41Ca tracer were systematically studied to obtain high beam current using wet, dry and a combining method with wet and dry re-fluoride. A reliable preparation procedure of plant samples for 41Ca tracer and its optimization parameters were determined by testing beam currents of various samples and lay a foundation for the 41Ca-AMS technology at plant tracer applications.