No.8（2013）15.Simultaneous determination of elemental composition in small solid samplesby femtosecond LA-ICPTOFMS

Hideo Hayashi, Aya Shimizu

  The femtosecond-pulsed laser beam (Ti:Sapphire, wavelength 263 nm, pulse width ca. 180 fs, pulse enegy 0.50 mJ/pulse) was focused into a solid sample surface, and then small particles were removed. These particles were transported to the ICP-TOFMS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer) with a stream of helium gas for elemental analysis. Calibration curves for glass samples were prepared from standard reference materials (NIST SRM 93a, 610, 612, 614, 620 and 621). The signal intensities for glass samples were increased with increasing the laser spot diameter from 1 to 65 μm. The maximum signal intensities were obtained at the 65 μm diameter. The detection limits for B and Pb were approached the fractional ppm levels. Compared with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF-EDX) and scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX), the proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of small solid samples.

Keywords
Small sample analysis, Trace analysis, ICP-MS, Laser ablation

Back to Contents