Nuclear Seminar - Jakub Kaizer (24.4.2019)

Wednesday 24.4.2019 at 14:00, Lecture room F1/364

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Ing. Jakub Kaizer, PhD.:
Measurement of thorium and uranium for low-level background experiments using ICPMS

Abstract:
A key aspect of the experiments that investigate rare nuclear processes or decays such as neutrino double beta decay (e.g., SuperNEMO, GERDA, MAJORANA, LEGEND) or look for dark matter (e.g., CRESST, EURECA) is to achieve a very low background. This is ensured both by placing the experiment in an underground laboratory to shield cosmic radiation and by using construction materials that have a low content of natural radionuclides such as 232Th and 238U. Several analytical methods can be used to determine the concentration of thorium and uranium in these materials, including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Its indisputable advantage is high sensitivity; on the other hand, it requires chemical preparation of the sample before the measurement. The basic principles of this method will be presented, as well as the results of Th and U measurements in the selected materials, conducted at the Gran Sasso laboratory.

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