Preparation of graphite targets for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon measurements at INFN-Bari Laboratory

The 14C technique is well known for the traditional dating but it has very large applications in several fields of research. For example, it allows the investigation on the atmospheric processes and ocean circulation to gain information about past climates. Moreover, the technique finds applications in biomedical and environmental studies. A new original graphite preparation facility has been installed at the INFN Laboratory of Bari (Italy). The CO 2 from the combusted sample is purified using a simple vacuum line set-up. The produced graphite targets are measured using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) at the INFN-LABEC Laboratory of Florence (Italy). In this paper, the preparation line is described in detail and recent results are reported.