Development of a rapid source preparation method for high-resolution α-particle spectrometry

In order to prepare sources of short-lived actinides for α-particle spectrometry, a coprecipitation method with Sm hydroxide was developed. The preparation procedure can be completed within 5 min with a high chemical yield of over 90%. It was found that the uniformity of the produced sources was sufficient to provide a high resolution of better than 20 keV. Under this method, we successfully measured the α-particle spectrum of short-lived Cf isotopes produced in the 238U(12C, xn) reaction.