A 3-D printed model showing a sectioned view of an ion source that was specially designed at CNL for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), a technique for precision radiocarbon dating of organic samples of archaeological or geophysical interest. Radiocarbon dating allows the determination of ages of carbon-bearing samples back to approximately 50,000 years before the present; an era encompassing the appearance of anatomically-modern humans. This device was developed in a collaboration of CNL with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
The model, which stands 17 cm above a 30 cm by 20 cm wooden base, was manufactured at CNL using a 3-D printer and was presented to John Wills on his retirement from CNL in 2010. John spent many years at CRNL working on ion-source development.
