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Comment on “Invalidation of the Intracavity Opto-galvanic Method for Radiocarbon Detection” by Cantwell G Carson, Martin Stute, Yinghuang Ji, Roseline Polle, Arthur Reboul, and Klaus S Lackner

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2016

Daniel E Murnick
Daniel E Murnick*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: murnick@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
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Abstract

Carson et al. (2016) have measured the optogalvanic response of an intracavity cell discharge containing carbon dioxide enriched in radiocarbon in a 14CO2 laser, and compared same to an unenriched sample. The measurement was carried out by modulating the laser wavelength while slowly tuning through the laser gain profile. The results of the measurements are claimed to “invalidate the optogalvanic method for radiocarbon detection.” A broadband linear absorption model is presented in support of this hypothesis. In fact, the experimental design was such as to minimize any possibility for 14C detection, and the model presented is not relevant to their experiment. Crucial control measurements were not carried out and the model used did not differentiate between broadband absorption spectroscopy and intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy (ICOGS) with a narrow-band single-mode CO2 laser.

Keywords

intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopyICOGSlaser spectroscopyradiocarbon
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 227 - 230
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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References

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