Original Ion Source with Laser Ionization for Direct Mass Spectral Elemental Analysis of Solid Samples

Original ion source with laser ablation/ionization, previously used for the mass spectral analysis of trace organic compounds in air, has been tested for an elemental analysis of metal samples. Laser plasma was generated on a surface of metal sample in an ionization chamber with a buffer gas at a pressure of ~1 Torr using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1 μm. Mass spectra of the resulting ions were acquired using orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Quantitative analysis of tin-copper alloys and quantitative determination of elemental composition of a standardized steel sample demonstrated high reproducibility, the absence of matrix effects, a detection limit of 10 ppm at a dynamic range of 5 orders of magnitude with a spectrum recording time of 10 s. A lateral spatial resolution of <50 μm was achieved.