1. Measurement of the Half-Life of
60Fe for Stellar and Early Solar System Models at
the University of Notre Dame
Part of the current work
uses the Tandem
Accelerator at the
University of Notre Dame’s
Nuclear Science Laboratory.
Using Accelerator Mass
Spectrometry and Gas Filled
Magnet techniques, we can
effectively count the
number of 60Fe atoms in a
sample.
60Fe is only naturally produced in stars and ejected
into the Universe through Supernova explosions. Trace
amounts of 60Fe have been found in ocean crust
samples, dating back several million years ago. With a
half-life on the order of millions of years, 60Fe can be
used as a chronometer for past Solar System events.
Nuclear Astrophysics: the unfinished quest for the origin of the elements. Jose
and Iliadis. August 2011.
K. Ostdiek, T. Anderson, W. Bauder, M. Bowers, P. Collon, R.
Dressler, J. Greene, W. Kutschera, W. Lu, M. Paul, D. Robertson, D.
Schumann, M. Skulski, A. Wallner. “Towards a Measurement of the
Half-Life of 60Fe for Stellar and Early Solar System Models.” Nucl.
Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. B. 2014. (to be published).
Combining the number of atoms in a sample and the Decay
Rate of that sample, we can calculate the Half-Life of 60Fe.
Further work is needed to verify our efforts.
-λN= dN/dt