title: Radioisotope studies of the farmville meteorite using γγ-coincidence spectrometry.
abstract: Radionuclides are cosmogenically produced in meteorites before they fall to the surface of the Earth. Measurement of the radioactive decay of such nuclides provides a wealth of information on the irradiation conditions of the meteorite fragment, the intensity of cosmic rays in the inner solar system, and the magnetic activity of the Sun. We report here on the detection of (26)Al using a sophisticated spectrometer consisting of a HPGe detector and a NaI(Tl) annulus. It is shown that modern γ-ray spectrometers represent an interesting alternative to other detection techniques. Data are obtained for a fragment of the Farmville meteorite and compared to results from Geant4 simulations. In particular, we report on optimizing the detection sensitivity by using suitable coincidence gates for deposited energy and event multiplicity. We measured an (26)Al activity of 48.5±3.5dpm/kg for the Farmville meteorite, in agreement with previously reported values for other H chondrites.
authors: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Howard
authors: Keene State College, Keene, NH 03435, USA.
authors: Megan
authors: M
authors: Ferm
authors: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Cesaratto
authors: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors: Stephen
authors: S
authors: Daigle
authors: Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA. Electronic address: iliadis@unc.edu.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Iliadis
keywords: (26)Al; Farmville meteorite; Monte Carlo simulations; γ-ray spectrometry