Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometers LA-ICP-MS

9 Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometers (LA-ICP-MS) 

LA-ICP mass spectrometry is becoming the method of the choice for trace and isotope analysis of solid samples and is already the most important laser induced technique in inorganic mass spectrometry due to the advantage of direct solid sampling by focused laser irradiation on the sample surface and its ability to provide microscale information. 

Furthermore, a few commercial excimer laser ablation systems are available on the analytical market, for the analysis of highest purity glasses, diamonds and highly transparent materials, 

The application of a laser in mass spectrometers offers the possibility of a direct microlocal analysis with a lateral resolution down to the (tm range. The capability of near-field LA-ICP-MS (NF-LA-ICP-MS)65 created in the author s laboratory provides local information on inhomogeneous element distribution on solid sample surfaces with a spatial resolution in the sub-p,m range. 

LA-ICP-MS will develop into a dominant solid-state analytical technique in the sensitive bulk analysis of homogeneous non-conducting materials (insulators, ceramics and glasses) in the future. The state-of-the-art, challenges and limitations with respect to isotope ratio measurements by LA-ICP-MS using different instrumentations have been reviewed in reference 131. 

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