MICADAS: A new compact radiocarbon AMS system

A novel tabletop AMS system with overall dimensions of only 2.5 × 3 m2 has been built and tested. The mini radiocarbon dating System (MICADAS) is based on a vacuum insulated acceleration unit that uses a commercially available 200 kV power supply to generate acceleration fields in a tandem configuration. At the high-energy end, ions in charge state 1+ are selected and interfering molecules of mass 14 amu are destroyed in multiple collisions. The new system is now fully operational. It is the prototype of a new generation of radiocarbon spectrometers which fulfill the requirements for radiocarbon dating applications as well as for the less demanding 14C/12C isotopic ratio measurements as needed, e.g. in biomedical applications. A detailed description of the system is given and results of performance tests are discussed.