Acclerator Mass Spectrometry

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) is presently one of the most sensitive techniques for the detection of long-lived radioisotopes at very low abundances. In recent years more isotopes can be measured via AMS and many isotopes ratios can be determined relatively precise. The main fields of applications are climate history and environmental processes where radioisotopes act as natural tracers. In earth sciences and archaeology AMS provides valuable dating tools. Radioisotopes commonly measured are 10Be, 14C, and 26Al. Accelerators with intermediate energies of 3–6 MeV also allow sensitive detection of 36Cl and 41Ca. More exotic isotopes like 44Ti, 53Mn, 55Fe, 59Ni, 60Fe, 63Ni, 79Se have been measured for astrophysical reasons.
An overview on recent AMS measurements with a focus on nuclear astrophysics will be given.
The technique of AMS at different laboratories will be shown. The new facility DREAMS at the Helmholtz–Zentrum Dresden–Rossendorf with an 6 MV tandem accelererator and the unique facility at Munich of the Technische Universit¨at M¨unchen and the Ludwig Maximilians Universit¨at M¨unchen will be described in more detail.