Friday, April 4, 2003, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium
Prof. M. Suter, ETHZ/PSI
Abstract:
Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) started 26 years ago. Tandem
accelerator facilities designed for basic research in nuclear physics
were first used to detect radionuclides in very low concentrations.
Meanwhile, many dedicated AMS facilities have been set up for the
detection of long-lived radionuclides. In recent years, new type of very
compact AMS facilities have been developed, which are based on
electrostatic accelerators operating at voltages below 1 MV. First it
was
demonstrated that these facilities are well suited for the detection of
radiocarbon. Now it has found that these instruments can be built in a
more flexible way, allowing the analysis of many other radionuclides. A
general review of these recent developments in AMS will be given and the
specific contributions of the ETH/PSI AMS group will be presented. The
potential of AMS in earth sciences and archeology is illustrated with a
few examples.