APPLICATIONS OF ACCELERATOR MASS-SPECTROMETRY IN ANALYSIS OF TRACE ISOTOPES AND ELEMENTS

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is mainly employed to measure very low concentrations of a number of long-lived radioisotopes and stable isotopes with very high sensitivities. The predominant application of AMS is in the field of geosciences and is based on chronological eval uations and dating principles. This paper deals with AMS applications other than dating problems, aiming at the analytical aspects of the tr ace isotopes and trace elements. It addresses non-dating applications in the fields of nuclear physics, geology, hydrology, environmental sc iences, material sciences and, in recent years, biomedical sciences wh ich have received increasing attention. Comparison of AMS with other a nalytical techniques with respect to detection limits and other functi ons is also discussed.