LA-ICP-MS is an in-situ analytical technique providing high precision elemental and stable isotope analyses of solid materials. Sample features 40-150 μm in size are routinely analyzed, while features as small as 10 μm may be measured under some circumstances. The system consist of:

ICP-MS Thermo Fischer Scientific iCAP TQe triple quadrupole

LASER ABLATION SYSTEM ESL 213 solid state Nd:YAG laser

Analyses begin with a process of laser ablation (LA), during which a solid sample is vaporized by irradiating with a laser beam focused on the sample surface. The interaction causes heating, evaporation and ionization of sample material effectively removing a tiny area (10-100 μm depending on settings) of the sample to create a plume of particles and ions which is then swept into the ICP-MS via a helium and/or argon carrier gas. The sample material is subsequently ionized in an inductively coupled plasma, transported to mass spectrometer and analyzed based on their mass-to-charge ratio. LA-ICP-MS can provide major and trace element compositions in a sample down to detection limits of 10’s of ppb (μg/kg).

Applications

Minor and trace elements measurements, which can provide important information to understand the genesis of a rock/mineral or determine the source region of sediments (provenance)

Trace element mapping

U-Pb and U-Th-Pb geochronology

Access

The LA-ICP-MS facility is open to users from all departments of AGH University, as well as external reseach collaborators and industry partners. New users are encouraged to contact Krzysztof Foltyn (kfoltyn@agh.edu.pl) to discuss their projects and arrange for instrument time needed, pricing and booking. The charge of the LA-ICP-MS use is needed for the maintenance of the instrument and usage of gases during measurements (helium and argon).

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Samples

Most solid samples can be ablated, the limiting factor is whether material can be ablated with available power of the laser system. Our sample holders offer several options, in most cases the sample material is prepared by mounting rock or mineral grain separates in standard 2.54 cm (1 inch) epoxy mounts or as thin or thick sections.

Major element composition is usually used as internal standard therefore to quantify data, concentration of at least one major element (e.g. Si in silicates, Cu in copper sulphides etc) must be known prior to laser analysis and typically is obtained by electron microprobe or SEM.

Proper quantification also requires matrix-matched, solid reference materials. Available standards/reference materials include glasses: NIST 610 and 612; nanopellets: BHVO-2-NP Ocean Island Basalt, MAKR-NP magnetite, JCt-1-NP carbonate, Apatite-NP Loliondo Arusha apatite, AL-I-NP albite, Mica-Fe-NP biotite, OREAS-463-NP rare earth element ore standard, OREAS-624-NP base metal ore standard; sulphide standards: STDGL3, UQAC-FeS-4, UQAC-FeS-5; reference materials: TS-Mnz - natural monazite for U-Th-Pb dating.

These are sufficient to measure most silicates, oxides, sulphides and carbonates.

Iolite software is used for data reduction.

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rapid in situ atomic spectroscopy technique that uses a short laser pulse to create a micro-plasma on the surface of a sample and is used to measure the concentration of major and trace elements. A high-power laser pulse is used to cause ablation of atoms on the surface and formation of a short-lived, high-temperature plasma with sufficient energy to cause excitation of electrons. As the plasma cools, the excited electrons decay to lower-energy orbitals, emitting photons with specific wavelengths which are collected through a lens and transmitted to the spectrometer via fiber optic. One of the advantages of LIBS is sensitivity to the light elements, including H, Li, Be, C, N, O, F.

A typical detection limit of LIBS for heavy metallic elements is in the low-PPM range and this method can be applied to a wide range of sample matrices that includerocks, glasses, biological tissues, synthetic materials.

ESL213 laser system has been equipped with ESLumen emission spectrometer, utilized mainly for fast elemental imaging of the sample. LIBS measurements require the same sample type as LA-ICP-MS.