Improved plasma stoichiometry recorded by laser ablation ionization mass spectrometry using a double‐pulse femtosecond laser ablation ion source

Riedo, Andreas; Lukmanov, Rustam; Grimaudo, Valentine; de Koning, Coenraad; Ligterink, Niels F. W.; Tulej, Marek; Wurz, Peter (2021). Improved plasma stoichiometry recorded by laser ablation ionization mass spectrometry using a double‐pulse femtosecond laser ablation ion source. Rapid communications in mass spectrometry, 35(12) Wiley 10.1002/rcm.9094

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Rationale
Femtosecond (fs) laser ablation ion sources have allowed for improved measurement capabilities and figures of merit of laser ablation based spectroscopic and mass spectrometric measurement techniques. However, in comparison to longer pulse laser systems, the ablation plume from fs lasers is observed to be colder, which favors the formation of polyatomic species. Such species can limit the analytical capabilities of a system due to isobaric interferences. In this contribution, a double‐pulse femtosecond (DP‐fs) laser ablation ion source is coupled to our miniature Laser Ablation Ionization Mass Spectrometry (LIMS) system and its impact on the recorded stoichiometry of the generated plasma is analyzed in detail.

Methods
A DP‐fs laser ablation ion source (temporal delays of +300 to – 300 ps between pulses) is connected to our miniature LIMS system. The first pulse is used for material removal from the sample surface and the second for post‐ionization of the ablation plume. To characterize the performance, parametric double‐ and single‐pulse studies (temporal delays, variation of the pulse energy, voltage applied on detector system) were conducted on three different NIST SRM alloy samples (SRM 661, 664 and 665).

Results
At optimal instrument settings for both the double‐pulse laser ablation ion source and the detector voltage, relative sensitivity coefficients were observed to be closer (factor of ~2) to 1 compared with single‐pulse measurements. Furthermore, the optimized settings worked for all three samples, meaning no further optimization was necessary when changing to another alloy sample material during this study.

Conclusions
The application of a double‐pulse femtosecond laser ablation ion source resulted in the recording of improved stoichiometry of the generated plasma using our LIMS measurement technique. This is of great importance for the quantitative chemical analysis of more complex solid materials, e.g., geological samples or metal alloys, especially when aiming for standard‐free quantification procedures for the determination of the chemical composition.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Space Research and Planetary Sciences
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute
10 Strategic Research Centers > Center for Space and Habitability (CSH)

UniBE Contributor:

Riedo, Andreas, Lukmanov, Rustam, Riedo, Valentine, de Koning, Coenraad Pieter, Ligterink, Niels Frank Willem, Tulej, Marek, Wurz, Peter

Subjects:

500 Science > 520 Astronomy
500 Science > 530 Physics
600 Technology > 620 Engineering

ISSN:

0951-4198

Publisher:

Wiley

Language:

English

Submitter:

Dora Ursula Zimmerer

Date Deposited:

09 Jun 2021 15:56

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:51

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/rcm.9094

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/156380

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/156380

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