Professor Keith Fifield

Professor, Research School of Physics & Engineering
Director HIAF, Research School of Physics & Engineering

Keith Fifield, PhD in Nuclear Physics from University of Pennsylvania, 1973 has held research positions in nuclear physics laboratories at the universities of Pennsylvania, Oxford, and ANU. In 1986, he began to develop the new technique of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at the ANU’s 14UD Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility. This became a full-time occupation from 1991. Since then, Keith has been at the forefront of innovation in both the methods and application of the technique. He has published more than 280 refereed papers in the fields of Nuclear Physics and AMS.

Research interests

Techniques and applications of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)

AMS employs a heavy-ion accelerator and techniques derived from nuclear physics research for the ultra-trace detection of very rare, long-lived isotopes. Applications range over a wide spectrum, including radiocarbon dating, groundwater research, climate change, energy, landscape evolution, and tracing of nuclear discharges. There are equally strong Australian and international aspects to the research, and it taps into an extensive network of collaborators, both within Australia and worldwide.