Feasibility studies of RFQ based 14C accelerator mass spectrometry

Electrostatic accelerators with terminal voltage less than 1 MeV have been successfully used for 14C AMS. This contribution shows that a small RFQ accelerator may also be suitable for AMS 14C measurements. A well-designed RFQ accelerator can realize a low energy spread and high isotopic selection with a length of less than 1 m and reasonable power consumption. Compared with small tandem accelerators, a RFQ does not need isolation gas and can accept much higher beam currents. Its stripper would be at ground potential and there would be no further acceleration after stripping, so the background from charge exchange processes should be lower. The RFQ design and system are described.