Present and future prospects of accelerator mass spectrometry
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) has become a powerful technique for measuring extremely low abundances (10/sup -10/ to 10/sup -15/ relative to stable isotopes) of long-lived radioisotopes with half-lives in the range from 10/sup 2/ to 10/sup 8/ years. With a few exceptions, tandem accelerators turned out to be the most useful instruments for AMS measurements. Both natural (mostly cosmogenic) and man-made (anthropogenic) radioisotopes are studied with this technique. In some cases very low concentrations of stable isotope are also measured. Applications of AMS cover a large variety of fields including anthropology, archaeology, oceanography, hydrology, climatology, volcanology, minerals exploration, cosmochemistry, meteoritics, glaciology, sedimentary processes, geochronology, environmental physics, astrophysics, nuclear and particle physics. Present and future prospects of AMS are discussed as an interplay between the continuous development of new techniques and the investigation of problems in the above mentioned fields. Typical factors to be considered are energy range and type of accelerator, and the possibilities of dedicated versus partial use of new or existing accelerators.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 6228462
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-870498-8; ON: DE87011413
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 7. tandem conference, Berlin, F.R. Germany, 6 Apr 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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