Semiquantitative Analysis of Glass by Laser Ablation ICP-MS

The 4500 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) was fitted with the LSX-100 Laser Sampling System (CETAC Technologies, Omaha, NE), enabling the direct analysis of solids by laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS). This application note describes the use of this system to provide rapid semiquantitative analysis on a certified glass standard. The accuracy of the concentration data generated was excellent, and detection limits obtained were in the 10's of ppb range, demonstrating the high sensitivity of the system when used for multielement analysis. No sample preparation was required, and the sample analysis time, including sample loading was approximately three minutes.