Tandy

The 500 kV Tandy facility was built at LIP in collaboration with National Electrostatics Corporation (NEC; Middelton, Wisconsin USA) in 1997 to demonstrate the feasibility of ¹⁴C analysis at a dedicated compact (4.5 x 6.0 m²) system at energies below 1 MeV. It is the first compact AMS system that eliminate molecular interferences by ion collision processes instead of the original approach of using highly charged ions (q³⁺ and higher). In the last few years the facility was converted more and more to a multi-isotope system. Most isotopes are now routinely measured at the Tandy (¹⁰Be, ²⁶Al, biomedical ⁴¹Ca, ¹²⁹I and actinides, e.g. ²³⁶U, Pu) benefit from the higher yield and better stability compared to larger facilities.