GEMOC ARC National Key CentreSimon Jackson, Ashwini Sharma, Norman Pearson and William Griffin
GEMOC National Key Centre, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,
Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109
Laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS has developed into a relatively routine analytical tool for trace element analysis of many solid samples. The most widely used laser for this application is a frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG laser which has a UV output wavelength of 266 nm. In order to achieve improved absorption and ablation characteristics, recent developments have centred largely on development of shorter wavelength laser ablation samplers. Recently, a commercial laser ablation system utilising the 5th harmonic of the Nd:YAG laser (8 = 213nm) has been developed. This paper compares the performance of 213 nm and 266 nm lasers for LA-ICP-MS analysis of rock-forming minerals.
The instruments used in this study were LUV266 and LUV213 laser ablation samplers (Merchantek/New Wave Research), which were coupled to an Agilent HP-7500 quadrupole ICP-MS system. Ablation was carried out on several mineral types ranging in colour and absorption characteristics, at a range of power densities, using both He and Ar as ablation gases.
Comparisons of figures of merit, including, sensitivity, reproducibility and degree of elemental fractionation, for the two ablation wavelengths will be presented.