Ryan P Fitzgerald, Bradley K Alpert, Daniel T Becker, Denis E Bergeron, Richard M Essex, Kelsey Morgan, Svetlana Nour, Galen O'Neil, Dan R Schmidt, Gordon A Shaw, Daniel Swetz, R Michael Verkouteren, Daikang Yan
We present a new paradigm for the primary standardization of radionuclide activity per mass of solution (Bq/g). Two key enabling capabilities are 4π decay-energy spectrometry using chip-scale sub-Kelvin microcalorimeters and direct realization of mass by gravimetric inkjet dispensing using an electrostatic force balance. In contrast to traditional traceability, which typically relies on chemical separation of single-radionuclide samples, 4π integral counting, and additional spectrometry methods to verify purity, the system described here has both 4π counting efficiency and spectroscopic resolution sufficient to identify multiple radionuclides in the same sample at once...
2021: Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology