Benefits of coupling a high-speed laser ablation system to Quadrupole Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Importance of the Topic

Laser ablation coupled with ICP-MS enables direct solid sampling with spatial resolution and minimal sample preparation. High-speed mapping improves throughput and expands applications in geochemistry, materials science and related fields.

Objectives and Study Overview

This work evaluates the performance of a Teledyne Photon Machines Iridia high-speed laser ablation system with a low-dispersion chamber directly coupled to a Thermo Scientific iCAP TQ quadrupole ICP-MS. Key goals include optimizing dwell times and washout, assessing imaging artefacts and demonstrating rapid multi-element mapping on a Shap granite section.

Methodology

A thick section of Shap granite was mounted in a 1 in. round mount. Data acquisition used Qtegra ISDS software. Washout optimization and dwell time distribution across m/z channels were performed with the HDIP LA-Monitor module. Laser repetition rate, scan speed and gas flows were tuned to synchronize pulses with quadrupole sweeps and minimize aliasing, pixelation blur and smearing.

Used Instrumentation

• Teledyne Photon Machines Iridia Excimer Laser Ablation system with Cobalt low-dispersion chamber
• ARIS Aerosol Rapid Introduction System for washout times of 5–50 ms
• Thermo Scientific iCAP TQ ICP-MS with triple quadrupole capability
• Qtegra Intelligent Scientific Data Solution software for acquisition and Reaction Finder method development
• HDIP Mass Spectrometry Data Analysis software for image generation and optimization

Main Results and Discussion

Optimization of gas flows and repetition rates enabled high-resolution 2D imaging with minimal artefacts. A 500×800 µm area was mapped at 85.8 µm/s in just over 25 minutes. Key findings:

• Aliasing eliminated by matching laser pulses to quadrupole cycle times
• Pixelation blur balanced with signal-to-background contrast using a 3 µm spot size
• Smearing reduced by achieving ~35 ms washout times
• Multi-element maps of K, Ca, Fe, Rb and Sr clearly resolved biotite, feldspar and quartz phases

Benefits and Practical Applications of the Method

• Rapid acquisition of high-quality multi-element images
• Minimal sample preparation and reduced contamination risk
• Flexibility to target select analytes with optimized dwell times
• Applicability to quadrupole and triple quadrupole ICP-MS platforms
• Enhanced specificity and interference reduction for trace elements

Future Trends and Possibilities

Advances may include faster washout cell designs for sub-ms washout, broader integration with sequential and simultaneous mass analyzers, expanded analyte lists through dynamic dwell time distribution and automated optimization algorithms. These developments will further improve throughput and image quality in geochemical, forensic and materials research.

Conclusion

Coupling a high-speed, low-dispersion laser ablation system with quadrupole ICP-MS enables fast, high-resolution multi-element imaging. Optimized synchronization of laser pulses and dwell times yields clear phase-specific maps in less than 30 minutes per sample, providing a versatile tool for spatial elemental analysis.

References

1. Van Malderen S J M et al Spectrochimica Acta Part B 2018 140 29-34
2. van Elteren J T et al Journal Analytic Atomic Spectrometry 2019 34 1919-1931
3. van Elteren J T et al Journal Analytic Atomic Spectrometry 2020 35 2494-2497
4. Šala M et al Journal Analytic Atomic Spectrometry 2021 36 75-79