Advances in accelerator mass spectrometry

L. K. Fifield*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    45 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Developments in the field of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) between 1996 and 1999 are surveyed. Significant new developments include the ultra-sensitive detection of 99Tc, 236U and the long-lived plutonium isotopes by AMS, and the demonstration that high-precision, low-background 14C dating can be performed with accelerating voltages as low as 0.5 MV. In addition, the steady evolution of technique and hardware for 14C AMS has resulted in substantial improvements in precision, throughput and background. Increases in throughput are also having an impact in other areas of application, most notably in ice-core research and exposure-age dating. The issue of the calibration of production rates of 10Be, 26Al and 36Cl by cosmic rays at the earth's surface, which is crucial to the effective application of exposure-age dating, has received some attention, and progress has been made towards a consensus.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)134-143
    Number of pages10
    JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
    Volume172
    Issue number1-4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2000

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Advances in accelerator mass spectrometry'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this