Technological Advances in the University of Washington Accelerator Mass Spectrometry System

During the past year we have continued to work toward greater stability and flexibility in nearly all elements of our accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) system, which is based upon an FN tandem Van de Graaff accelerator, and have carried out measurements of 14C/12C and 10Be/9Be isotopic abundance ratios in natural samples. The principal recent developments and improvements in the accelerator system and in our sample preparation techniques for carbon and beryllium are discussed, and the results of a study of 10Be cross-contamination of beryllium samples in the sputter ion source are presented.