Fully Simultaneous ICP-Mass Spectrometer MATERIALS ANALYSIS DIVISION

SPECTRO MS The commercial use of analytical instruments with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) as the excitation source began in 1974 with the first ICP emission spectrometer. ICP mass spectrometers were introduced beginning in 1983; they established themselves on the market quickly. Improvements in the sensitivity and reduction of the interferences have led to more precise analytical results. Today, the detection limits for many elements are so low that they can only be achieved in clean rooms and are, in practice, frequently limited by natural impurities. With its new SPECTRO MS ICP mass...

Applications Superior performance, drastically reduced measuring times and comprehensive possibilities for the connection of accessories and automatic equipment for unattended operation; the SPECTRO MS has been engineered for the most demanding analytical applications. Typical areas of use can be found, for example, in academic and industrial research laboratories, in geology, in the mining and metal industries as well as in agriculture and nutrition. Additionally, there are other classical tasks for ICP mass spectrometry in the environmental sector, in companies in the chemical, petrochemical...

Highest analytical performance, fast access to the spacious sample chamber, simple operation and maintenance: Application and operator were paramount during the development of the SPECTRO MS. Housing and Vacuum System The well thought-out SPECTRO MS housing bears the trademark of experienced industrial designers and supports simple installation, operation and maintenance. Dimensions and weight have been kept to a minimum. The instrument is mounted on stable rollers so that it can be moved with no trouble if this should become necessary. This is, however, not required for normal maintenance as...

Sample Introduction The SPECTRO MS sample chamber can be accessed by sliding the front cover to the side. It is spacious and enables simple and rapid exchange of the entire sample introduction system or its individual components. The SPECTRO MS offers absolute flexibility. In principle, virtually every combination of nebulizer and spray chamber is possible. Additional application fields are easily developed by attaching chromatographs, ultrasonic nebulizers or laser ablation systems. The four channel, software controlled, peristaltic pump enables exact sample flows. It is located, together with...

Excitation Like the high-end SPECTRO ARCOS ICP-OES, the SPECTRO MS utilizes a compact, maintenance-free generator with high efficiency (> 70 %) and high power stability (> 99.9 %). This is a free-running 27 MHz system with air cooling, integrated semiconductor power supply and fully automatic control. With immediate adjustment of the resonance frequency for varying loads, it guarantees utterly stable plasma conditions even for the most difficult excitation conditions – an absolute must for excellent analytical results. The SPECTRO generator requires neither moveable parts nor complex electronics...

Interface The interface for transport of the ions from the plasma into the high vacuum system consists of two cone-shaped metal nozzles (“cones”) aligned in succession: The sampler and the skimmer. Both have a small orifice in the middle onto which the plasma region with the highest portion of single charged ions is exactly aligned using the torch positioning. The sampler causes the plasma gas to expand in the form of a super sonic beam into the interface vacuum. The gas temperature and pressure are rapidly reduced and the ions generated in the plasma are efficiently transported into the vacuum...

Ion Optic The ion optic in the SPECTRO MS is a completely new development. Its components separate disturbing electrons, photons and neutral particles with extreme efficiency from the analyte ions; transporting the latter optimally into the mass spectrometer. At first, the interface extractor lens removes the electrons from the gas beam formed by the skimmer of the vacuum interface. The now positively charged ion beam is then focused in the next step, the pre-filter. The interface extractor lens can also be easily removed and cleaned without breaking the high vacuum. In the following pre-filter,...

Mass Spectrometer A double focusing sector field mass spectrometer in a Mattauch-Herzog geometry is utilized in the SPECTRO MS. It is composed of an entrance slit, an electrostatic analyzer (ESA), an energy slit and a magnetic sector field with the subsequent detector attached. The ion beam energy band width is reduced in the electrostatic energy analyzer (ESA) in order to achieve high resolution for the following mass separation in the magnetic field. The special characteristic of the Mattauch-Herzog geometry Simultaneous measurement of the entire spectrum is enabled by the combination of double...

Detector The Direct Charge Detector (DCD) used in the SPECTRO MS is a completely new semiconductor detector with 4800 channels and a high readout rate. It simultaneously covers the entire mass spectrum. Every channel is made up of an array with a low and a high amplification pixel (dual stage design). In this way, every channel can directly process a wide range of signals. The dynamic measuring range can be further increased by adjusting the integration time. It is automatically set for every single channel during the measurement and is adjusted when necessary. This enables an optimum signal...

Sophisticated master methods have been provided to simplify method development. Assistants lead the user through all of the steps of the development process and help the operator in all respects. Interferences in semi-quantitative analyses are automatically detected and corrected. Software The SPECTRO MASS ANALYZER VISION software package is characterized by its intuitive user interface and very easy operation. Frequently repeated measurement tasks can be conducted with just a few mouse clicks. Rapid semi-quantitative screening analyses over the entire spectrum are easily performed without extensive...