Supported projects

The Laboratoire de mesure du carbone 14 (LMC14) is the National Instrument that enables the French research laboratories to carry out radiocarbon dating by using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Founded in 2003 and attached to the LSCE in 2015, the LMC14 owns chemistry laboratories for sample preparation and a particle accelerator coupled to a mass spectrometer called ARTEMIS for measuring carbon isotopes. Since its creation, the laboratory has measured more than 70,000 samples, 40% of which belong to cultural heritage (archaeological objects, museum collections in partnership with the C2RMF, painted decorations, artefacts being restored, buildings, etc.). After more than 20 years of uninterrupted operation, the obsolescence of the AMS’s control command electronics has made it necessary to update the system in order to replace the modules, which have become fragile and unable to be replaced due to a lack of spare parts, with a new and more robust acquisition system. The acquisition electronics must be upgraded in the very short term to compensate for the malfunctions already observed and those to come. This upgrade will enable us to provide our national service and maintain the facility’s international competitiveness by avoiding foreseeable breakdowns that would impact a very large community of researchers in the field of cultural heritage. The upgrade is also part of a virtuous policy of extending the operation of an existing installation rather than purchasing a new device. The aim of the project is therefore to acquire a data acquisition and control system that will enhance the technical reliability of the AMS, enabling it to respond to dating requests as quickly as possible. This upgrade will also benefit the scientific projects developed by the LMC14, many of which are in collaboration with laboratories of the PAMIR network.