accelerator mass spectrometry

American  

noun

1. a type of mass spectrometry used in radiocarbon dating in which the proportion of carbon isotopes is counted directly, as contrasted with the indirect Geiger counter method, using an accelerator that drastically reduces the quantity of datable material required.

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Example Sentences

Traces of such events are found on Earth or the Moon and can be detected using accelerator mass spectrometry, or AMS for short.

From Science Daily • Nov. 2, 2023

She used a sensitive technique known as accelerator mass spectrometry to detect minute amounts of radiocarbon, which she hoped would shed light on when—and why—such an event might have happened.

From Scientific American • Mar. 6, 2023

As she worked, Hayeur Smith entered her data and extracted small samples for further analysis and testing, including a type of radiocarbon dating called accelerator mass spectrometry.

From Scientific American • Sep. 15, 2022

Buchholz, a physicist and a nuclear engineer, is an expert at something called accelerator mass spectrometry, an extraordinarily precise method of determining the chemical composition of materials.

From Forbes • May 21, 2010