LB Thesis Outline

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Abstract

Photon Activation Analysis functions as a way to quantify isotopic concentrations in a certain sample. This information is very useful when trying to find potential contaminants within a sample. Selenium, when ingested in large amounts, is harmful as it is a toxic substance. When applying PAA, one of the most important pieces of the investigation is ensuring that isotopes within a sample are detectable i.e. how active does a sample have to be to detect the isotopes of interest. Soil was gathered and targets were created that had 50%, 10%, 1%, and 0.1% concentration by mass of selenium which was introduced to the soil during the target creation. The targets were irradiated using the Linear Accelerator at the Idaho Accelerator Center with a beam energy of 32 MeV. Once active, the spectral data was gathered using a high purity germanium detector.

Theory

LB Thesis Theory Section

Experimental Setup

Target Information

Sample Soil Mass (g) Inner Se Mass (g) Outer Se Mass (g) Front Outer Nickel Foil (g) Front Inner Nickel Foil (g) Rear Inner Nickel Foil (g) Rear Outer Nickel Foil (g)
50% Sample 0.4921 0.5145 0.0900 1.5535 0.3956 0.3050 1.6140
10% Sample 4.9921 0.5142 0.1245 1.3310 0.3592 0.2768 1.2196
1% Sample 10.2403 0.0954 0.0914 3.4274 1.8672 1.7220 3.4887
0.1% Sample 100.1242 0.1074 0.1042 1.3911 0.4467 0.2548 1.3804

Data/Error Analysis

LB Thesis Thin Window Analysis

Conclusion

Appendices