A Radiocarbon Dating Protocol for Use with Packard Scintillation Counters Employing Burst-Counting Circuitry

Abstract

Considerable research has been carried out in this laboratory on the use of Packard scintillation counters employing burst-counting circuitry. The nature of the pulse-shape discrimination circuit has led to redefining our sample vialing philosophy and scintillation cocktail optimization. Results presented here demonstrate; 1) the enhancements in efficiency that are achievable using a two-component cocktail compared with the use of a primary fluor only; 2) the development of a cocktail in which efficiency and quenching are relatively unaffected by moderate variations in fluor concentrations and ratio; 3) the rationale behind the use of screw-cap vials rather than sealable ampules; 4) the advantage of nickel/chromium-plated brass caps over standard plastic caps.