Accelerator mass spectrometry history

In 1986, researchers at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, reported on how the radioactive carbon-14 isotope can be separated from other atoms in a sample by use of accelerator mass spectrometry, thus making it possible to derive more accurate chronologies from much smaller archaeological or anthropological specimens. For details, consult Hedges/Gowlett reference listed. 

ACCELERATOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 14.2.1 History of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry... 

Historically, from the earliest days of mass spectrometry the most common method of ion activation has been coUisional activation (CA), whereby ions are accelerated through a defined potential drop and caused to collide with gas molecules that are deliberately introduced into the ion trajectory the history of this approach has been described in an excellent overview (Hu 1995). This involves conversion of part of the kinetic energy of the ion into internal energy (that in turn leads to fragmentation), and is still by far the most commonly used method. 

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