Novel multichannel plasma-source mass spectrometer

A novel mass spectrometer system for elemental analysis is described. The instrument combines an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) ion source with a Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrometer and multichannel ion detector. Ion detection is simultaneous and an elemental mass spectrum (20–230 μ) can be acquired in < 10 ms. The instrument can be used with either Ar or He plasma sources. The speed of the system makes it well suited for acquisition of fast (10–100-ms duration) transient signals, such as those generated by pulsed laser ablation sample introduction. Preliminary system performance characteristics, which include detection limits, stability, and measurement accuracy, obtained with an Ar ICP are presented. The application of the instrument to the analysis of solid samples by laser ablation is discussed