The design, operation and role of the laser-ablation microprobe coupled with an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (LAM- ICP-MS) in the Earth sciences

The coupling of a laser-ablation microprobe (LAM) to an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) has produced a relatively simple and inexpensive multi-element, high-sensitivity trace-element microbeam analytical system with characteristics ideally suited to research in the Earth Sciences. The LAM should be designed to allow for flexibility in sampling a wide variety of materials of various physical sizes and shapes, at variable, but small-scale, spatial resolution. The data acquisition and processing protocols of the LAM-ICP-MS system must allow the use of time-resolved analytical data for routine analytical work. The method is now capable of unique applications in mineralogical and geological research. Of particular importance is its ability to characterize, not only the chemical concentration of trace elements at ppm to ppb levels in minerals, but also the nature of their distribution. Time-resolved analysis of the analytical data allows distinction between trace elements incorporated in the host crystal-structure and those located in other phases. -from Authors