Abstract

The availability of separated isotopes to physicists, biologists, and chemists has presented new problems in the field of tracer techniques. Until recently mass spectrographic and radioactive tracer methods have been used almost uniquely and with considerable success in such isotopic evaluation problems. However, it is recognized that many other physical methods lend themselves to the analysis of isotopes in samples. This paper will discuss several recent applications of tools of physicists other than mass spectrographs and radioactive tracer methods. By way of summary, these fields are: optical spectroscopy, nuclear resonance spectroscopy, and microwave spectroscopy. The methods might well be called spectro-isotopic procedures in that they are based on the characteristic electromagnetic spectra of isotopes (see Table I).

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