AMS dating involves accelerating the ions to extraordinarily high kinetic energies followed by mass analysis. Although more expensive than radiometric dating, AMS dating has higher precision and needs small sample sizes.

How far back can Ams date?

The most important for American archaeology is radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating can be used back to about 50,000 years.

How do you AMS?

How Accelerator Mass Spectrometry works. In common with other kinds of mass spectrometry, AMS is performed by converting the atoms in the sample into a beam of fast moving ions (charged atoms). The mass of these ions is then measured by the application of magnetic and electric fields.

Who invented Accelerator Mass Spectrometry?

History. L.W. Alvarez and Robert Cornog of the United States first used an accelerator as a mass spectrometer in 1939 when they employed a cyclotron to demonstrate that 3He was stable; from this observation, they immediately and correctly concluded that the other mass-3 isotope, tritium (3H), was radioactive.