Radiocarbon is rare, forming no more than one part per trillion of the total carbon content of the atmosphere. An optical method allows radiocarbon to be detected at roughly 25-fold lower levels than this, opening up fresh avenues of research.
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Zare, R. Ultrasensitive radiocarbon detection. Nature 482, 312–313 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/482312a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/482312a
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