Mass Spectrometry

Atomic mass spectroscopy

The last twenty years have seen a tremendous expansion in atomic mass spectrometry. Atomic mass spectrometry has lower detection limits (ppt to ppq) and broad elemental coverage in comparison to most optical approaches, with the added capacities of delivering isotopic abundance information and internal standardization by isotope dilution. The development of dependable instrumentation, particularly commercial instruments for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS), laser sampling mass spectrometry, and secondary ion mass spectrometry, is directly related to the growth in the use of atomic mass spectrometry (SIMS).