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Written Artefact Profiling Guide
Written ArtefactProfiling Guide

Photo: CSMC

Written Artefact Profiling Guide

Laser Ablation - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS); Agilent 7800 x with Laser Ablation Unit from Electro Scientific Industries

Laser Ablation - Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a sensitive analytical method for rapid multi-elemental determination in the trace and ultra-trace range on solid sample materials. The sample material to be analyzed is ablated by a focused laser beam and transported with a carrier gas (helium) into the inductively coupled plasma ion source of an ICP-MS. Subsequently, the ablated material is ionized and separated according to the mass-to-charge ratio. Both semi-quantitative and quantitative determinations can be performed. Significant limitations arise with certified reference materials for the determination. Matrix-adapted calibrations are necessary for meaningful analysis. The advantage of LA-ICP-MS is providing three-dimensional information over the specific area (x-, y-, z-axis). In addition, laser ablation does not require any sample preparation, and due to the minimally invasive laser ablation, only a small amount of sample material (nano- or micrograms) is required. The analysis can be performed directly and without visible damage depending on the problem and material. LA-ICP-MS can be compared with XRF. The advantage of the XRF is the non-invasive analysis, whereas the LA-ICP-MS provides a better depth profile and information about trace elements.

SEM image of paper at a magnification of 349 times. A5.1 and A5.2 are line ablation (300µm) by LA at different energies.
  • General description:
    • Laser ablation (LA): ESL 193 Laser Ablation System (Excimer) - Electro Scientific Industries, New Wave Research Division
    • ICP-MS: Agilent 7800x
  • Application aim: multielemental analysis, authentication of origin
  • Mobility: stationary
  • Equipment specifics Laser:
    • Wavelength: 193 nm
    • Repetition Rate: 1–200 Hz (extendable to 500 Hz and 1000 Hz)
    • Fluence: up to 15 J/cm2 at the sample surface
    • Spot Sizes: 1–150 µm (extendable to 250 µm)
  • Equipment specifics ICP-MS:
    • ORS4 collision/reaction cell
    • Single quadrupole
    • 7800 Orthogonal detector system (10 orders dynamic range)
  • Application requirements: matrix matched calibration is required for quantitative analysis
  • Sample required: yes
  • Contact required: yes, minimally invasive laser ablation
  • Interaction spot dimensions: depends
  • Limitations: sample size must fit into ablation chamber (15 cm x 15 cm x 2,5 cm)
  • Set up time: 30 min N2-Purge, 5 min Helium Washoutflow, 20 min plasma warmup, 7 min for laser warm up, 10 min plasma tuning, 20 tuning in batch, 0.5 minutes per sample (in line mode)
  • Average time for measuring: 2+ hours, depending on sample and batch size
  • Average time for processing: 20+ minutes, depending on number of samples
  • Software package: LA: Active View 2 & Iolite 4.4; ICP-MS: Mass Hunter 4.5 (all Windows)
  • Output: .csv
  • Contact: Marie Oest, marie.oest"AT"uni-hamburg.de
  • Location of the equipment: Hamburg School of Food Science, HSFS (Grindelallee 117, Hamburg)