An inductively coupled plasma distance-of-flight mass spectrometer (ICP-DOFMS) has been coupled with laser-ablation (LA) sample introduction for the elemental analysis of solids. ICP-DOFMS is well suited for the analysis of laser-generated aerosols because it offers both high-speed mass analysis and simultaneous multi-elemental detection. Here, we evaluate the analytical performance of the LA-ICP-DOFMS instrument, equipped with a microchannel plate-based imaging detector, for the measurement of steady-state LA signals, as well as transient signals produced from single LA events. Steady-state detection limits are 1 mg g1, and absolute single-pulse LA detection limits are 200 fg for uranium; the system is shown capable of performing time-resolved single-pulse LA analysis. By leveraging the benefits of simultaneous multi-elemental detection, we also attain a good shot-to-shot reproducibility of 6% relative standard deviation (RSD) and isotope-ratio precision of 0.3% RSD with a 10 s integration time.
Revised: July 2, 2015 |
Published: January 1, 2015
Citation
Gundlach-Graham A.W., E. Dennis, S.J. Ray, C.G. Enke, C.J. Barinaga, D.W. Koppenaal, and G.M. Hieftje. 2015.Laser-ablation sampling for inductively coupled plasma distance-of-flight mass spectrometry.Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 30, no. 1:139-147.PNNL-SA-109896.doi:10.1039/C4JA00231H