ICP as a High-temperature Ionization Source

Argon plasma is the most common type in plasma souree mass speetrometry. Generally, the sample is introduced into ICP-MS as a liquid solution via a nebulizer, where a fine aerosol is generated. Then the aerosol is transported to 

In summary, the ionization efficiency and analytical sensitivity of ICP is higher than other ion sources, and the matrix effect in ICP-MS is much smaller. It can be found that the ICP and other soft ion sources (e.g. ESI or MALDI) are really complementary techniques. Structural information is preferably obtained by means of ESI- or MALDI-MS, whereas ICP-MS is ideal to quantify elements in samples, even in the very low concentration ranges. 

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