ELFT HÍRADÓ

[Király Beáta <kiraly.beata AT atomki.hu>]

History and new developments in atom counting by accelerator mass 
spectrometry 



by Prof. A. J. Timothy Jull (HUN-REN ATOMKI and University of Arizona) 



When: 2024-04-23 Tuesday 11:00 AM 


Where: HUN-REN ATOMKI, lecture hall (Debrecen, Bem tér 18/c) 





Additional information: 
- Tea and cookies are offered before the seminar at 10:30 AM. 
- One of the authors presents the [ https://atomki.hu/articles/current | 
paper of the month ] 2023/10: 



Atom counting with accelerator mass spectrometry, [ 
https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.95.035006 | Reviews of Modern Physics 
(2023) 95, 035006 ] . 








Abstract: 


Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) revolutionized the measurement of 
longer-lived radionuclides in the late 1970’s, when it was recognized that 
the combination of a mass spectrometer with an electrostatic accelerator 
allowed measurement of isotopic ratios as low as 10 -15 , with two papers 
published in Science (1977). Although initial studies focused mainly on 
radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating, many other radionuclide studies have also been 
undertaken, including a wide variety of applications from archaeology, famous 
art works, astrophysics, geosciences and ice-core studies to oceanography. I 
will highlight some examples of these applications. 

Technical developments over the last 47 years have reduced the physical size 
of the accelerator systems, especially for radiocarbon studies, from the 
large tandem accelerators used in the initial studies operating at 6 MV or 
higher, to smaller machines operating at as little as 50 kV. This also 
highlights the capabilities at ATOMKI, which currently hosts three varieties 
of these smaller AMS designs. 







--- 
Király Beáta, PhD 
HUN-REN ATOMKI / HUN-REN Atommagkutató Intézet 
C: 4026 Debrecen, Bem tér 18/c 
T: +36 52 509 200 
E: kiraly.beata AT atomki.hu 
W: [ http://www.atomki.hu/ | www.atomki.hu ]