Development of accelerator mass spectrometry assisted by isotope-selective laser photodetachment for monitoring 129I

Abstract A prototype system was developed to investigate an isotope-selective laser photodetachment technique for a 129 I accelerator mass spectrometer. A pulsed ion source for negative iodine ions (I − ) that employed laser ablation proved to be suitable for isotope-selective laser photodetachment. Laser photodetachment of pulsed negative iodine ions was estimated to have an efficiency of about 81% based on a model calculation for the prototype system with a tunable pulsed Ti:sapphire laser.