17 research outputs found
High-Speed, High-Resolution, Multielemental Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Imaging: Part I. Instrumentation and Two-Dimensional Imaging of Geological Samples
Low-dispersion laser ablation (LA)
has been combined with inductively
coupled plasma-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ICP-TOFMS) to provide
full-spectrum elemental imaging at high lateral resolution and fast
image-acquisition speeds. The low-dispersion LA cell reported here
is capable of delivering 99% of the total LA signal within 9 ms, and
the prototype TOFMS instrument enables simultaneous and representative
determination of all elemental ions from these fast-transient ablation
events. This fast ablated-aerosol transport eliminates the effects
of pulse-to-pulse mixing at laser-pulse repetition rates up to 100
Hz. Additionally, by boosting the instantaneous concentration of LA
aerosol into the ICP with the use of a low-dispersion ablation cell,
signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios, and thus limits of detection (LODs),
are improved for all measured isotopes; the lowest LODs are in the
single digit parts per million for single-shot LA signal from a 10-μm
diameter laser spot. Significantly, high-sensitivity, multielemental
and single-shot-resolved detection enables the use of small LA spot
sizes to improve lateral resolution and the development of single-shot
quantitative imaging, while also maintaining fast image-acquisition
speeds. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous elemental imaging of major
and minor constituents in an Opalinus clay-rock sample at a 1.5 μm
laser-spot diameter and quantitative imaging of a multidomain Pallasite
meteorite at a 10 μm LA-spot size