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Experimental study demonstrates sensitive radiocarbon detection in carbon samples, indicating that negative ions eliminate nitrogen-14 background interference.
Mass spectrometric methods have long been suggested as ways of measuring (14)C/(12)C ratios for carbon dating. One problem has been to distinguish between (14)N and (14)C. With negative ions and a tandem electrostatic accelerator, the (14)N background is virtually absent and fewer than three (14)C atoms in 10(16) atoms of (12)C have been easily measured.
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Bennett et al. (1977) studied this question.
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