14C SCAR
The most innovative approach to radiocarbon measurement
Detecting 14C is extremely challenging due to its extremely low concentration in nature: the sensitivity required is 1 part per 10^15.
Currently, there are several analytical techniques available for determining radiocarbon: among the best known are AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) and LSC (Liquid Scintillation Counting).
The 14C SCAR (Saturated-absorption CAvity Ring-down) spectrometer is a new and innovative spectrometer for measuring 14C.
It is capable of measuring the molar fraction of radiocarbon in any sample using the SCAR technique, which improves the limits of CRD (cavity ring down) by more than an order of magnitude.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
The concept of Modern and Fossil Biogenic Carbon:
The 14C SCAR instrument analyzes the CO2 gas produced by the combustion of the sample and obtains the concentration of 14C by measuring the spectral area of a given molecular transition of the 14CO2 molecule. If the sample comes from a modern living being, the measured 14C concentration will be close to the so-called Natural Abundance or Modern Carbon Concentration (MC).
This corresponds to 100 percent Modern Carbon, i.e., 100pMC. A similar measurement on a sample containing only fossil carbon will show no signal corresponding to the 14CO2 transition, as there is no 14C present: this corresponds to 0pMC.
Therefore, any result in the range 0pMC – 100pMC will provide a direct measurement of the biological carbon content in the material analyzed.
To provide an accurate and precise measurement of radiocarbon, it is very often necessary to correct the data obtained for “isotopic fractionation” using the isotopes 13C and 12C. This correction removes the error introduced by differences in metabolic pathways and respiration between the sample and the modern reference material. Therefore, many end users tend to pair the SCAR 14C detector with an IRMS for the δ13C isotope ratio.
Depending on the nature of the sample to be measured and the analytical requirements, the 14C SCAR must be paired with one or more suitable peripheral devices:
14C SCAR is the most innovative radiocarbon analysis detector currently on the market. Thanks to its new technology, 14C SCAR allows you to perform radiocarbon measurements in your own laboratory in a simple and reliable way.
Designed and developed by the National Research Council, 14C SCAR boasts three patents:
Its size and weight make it much easier to handle than other instruments available:
The software is capable of managing not only the detector, but also the peripherals connected to it, making the analysis completely automatic.
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