How Does the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Work?

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) detects isotopes based on their weight and charge. Scientists rely on AMS to count the number of rare radioactive atoms in a sample, frequently using this information to find out how old a sample is. The technique is a super-sensitive filter that can detect radioactive isotopes at levels of 1 radioactive atom per 1-thousand-million-million atoms in a sample.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Center for AMS has three instruments, and each one is designed for certain types of analysis. The largest and most versatile machine, featured in this video, uses a 10-million-volt tandem accelerator where ions—electrically charged particles—are accelerated at high voltage.

Learn more about CAMS: https://cams.llnl.gov/