MEASUREMENT OF CARBON 14 ISOTOPICALLY SELECTIVE RESONANCE IONIZATION MASS SPECTROSCOPY

(14)C DATING BY MEANS OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY COUNTING, AND RECENTLY BY MEANS OF TANDEM ACCELERATOR MASS SPECTROMETER (TAMS) IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN A WIDE RANGE OF FIELDS INCLUDING ANTHROPOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGY, HYDROLOGY, OCEANOGRAPHY, AND OTHERS. PROPOSED HERE IS A NEW METHOD FORCOUNTING (14)C OR, MORE SPECIFICALLY, MEASURING (14)C/(12)C AND (14)C/(13)C RATIOS, THAT REQUIRES SMALLER SAMPLES BY THREE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE THAN (14)C DECAY COUNTING, AND THAT REQUIRES LOWER FACILITIES COSTS (BY A FACTOR OF 10) ANDLOWER OPERATING COSTS (BY A FACTOR OF 3 OR MORE) THAN TAMS - COSTS THAT WOULD BE READILY AFFORDABLE FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF LABORATORIES AND INSTITUTIONS ACTIVE IN (14)C DATING. THE METHOD OF MEASUREMENT IS RESONANCE IONIZATION SPECTROSCOPY (RIS), COMBINED WITH MASS SPECTROSCOPY, APPLIEDTO MOLECULES OF CO. EXPECTED ISOTOPIC SELECTIVITY IS 10(15), AND EXPECTED SENSITIVITY, BASED ON OUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH RIS MEASUREMENTS OF ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCES, ISSUCH THAT A (14)C MEASUREMENT CAN BE MADE ON A 1 MILLIGRAM SAMPLE OF 50,000 YEAR OLD CARBON. IN PHASE I, WE INTEND TO DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY OF THIS METHOD. IN PHASE II WE WILL SHOW ITS ULTIMATE CAPABILITY AND PERFORMANCE, AND IN PHASE III WE WILL COMPLETE SYSTEM DESIGN AND BEGIN COMMERCIALIZATION.