Development Of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry And Its Applications

With over 30 years' development, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) technology has been applied in almost all domains of science and technology. In this article, we first provide a brief description of the basic principles of AMS and then a review of recent technical developments. Selected examples of applications are given to show the impact and potential of AMS in earth and environmental sciences, archeology, art authentication, biomedical sciences, nuclear astrophysics and nuclear environmental safeguards. Finally, the trends and challenges of AMS development are briefly discussed.