Exploration of a Helium Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mattauch—Herzog Mass Spectrometer for Simultaneous Multielement Analysis

Abstract

A helium inductively coupled plasma (He ICP) was coupled with a low-resolution Mattauch–Herzog mass spectrometer (MHMS) for simultaneous ion detection. The potentials and limitations of the system were explored for the introduction of aqueous samples and for laser ablation sampling of solid materials including aluminum alloy, brass, fused ore, and glass standard reference materials. Compared to the data obtained with an Ar ICP on the same instrument, the detection limits were approximately 10 and 100 times worse for samples in solid and solution forms, respectively, partly due to the presence of a strong secondary discharge for the He ICP used with this instrument. In general, the ICP detection limits measured with the MHMS were 10–1000 times inferior to the data obtained with a quadrupole-based instrument.