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MS: Fachverband Massenspektrometrie
MS 7: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
MS 7.2: Talk
Thursday, March 5, 2026, 15:00–15:15, N 6
Commissioning of the HAMSTER - the cutting edge accelerator mass spectrometry system at HZDR — •Stella Winkler1, Shruti Dabke1, Toralf Döring1, Sebastian Fichter1, Thilo Hauser2, Dominik Koll1, Allan O'Connor2, Johannes Lachner1, Georg Rugel1, Mark Sundquist2, Janis Wolf1, René Ziegenrücker1, Sebastian Zwickel1, and Anton Wallner1 — 1Accelerator Mass Spectrometry & Isotope Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden- Rossendorf, 01328, Dresden — 2National Electrostatic Corp. (NEC), Middleton, WI 53562, USA
The HAMSTER is currently the most advanced development in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) systems. It is based on a 'small' 1MV accelerator and designed to offer high performance for all AMS isotopes, be they established, in development or envisioned. The key AMS parts of the system were delivered and installed at HZDR from August to early October 2025. Since then, the phase of beam testing, trouble-shooting, and characterising performance is underway.
The HAMSTER features advanced capabilities for the heavy isotopes, to be measured at even the lowest levels currently known. Besides the instrumentation for radioisotopes, the equipped dynode electron multipliers offer new options for stable isotopes at trace element level.
Here we will present the physics background for AMS that drove the inception of this system, the installation and testing of this system, and first performance data for 'classic' AMS isotopes.
Keywords: Radiocarbon; Beryllium-10; Iodine-129; Aluminium-26; Carbon-14