Verification of the sputter-generated 32SFn− (n = 1–6) anions by accelerator mass spectrometry

Recently, we have performed systematic Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) measurements at our ion source test set up and have demonstrated that gas phase 32SFn− (n = 1–6) anions for all size ‘n’ can be readily generated from a variety of surfaces undergoing Cs+ ion sputtering in the presence of high purity SF6 gas by employing the gas spray-cesium sputter technique. In our SIMS measurements, the isotopic yield ratio 34SFn−/32SFn− (n = 1–6) was found to be close to its natural abundance but not for all size ‘n’. In order to gain further insight into the constituents of these molecular anions, ultra sensitive Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) measurements were conducted with the most abundant 32SFn− (n = 1–6) anions, at BARC-TIFR 14 UD Pelletron accelerator. The results from these measurements are discussed in this paper.