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Laser Ablation/Mass Spectroscopy (LA/MS)

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Fact Sheets:
AR #197
AR #1346

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Tech ID: 127
Project Overview
The laser ablation/mass spectrometer system is a chemical analysis method that can determine the amount of most elemental/isotopic constituents in tank waste samples with no sample preparation. This technology has the potential to provide rapid analytical results while lowering production times and worker exposure

Technology Description
 The laser ablation/mass spectrometer system provides elemental and/or isotopic detection and quantification of most elements in the periodic table. In this system, a pulse laser beam is used to remove very small amounts of material from a tank waste sample; this process is called laser ablation. The inert carrier gas (argon) transfers the ablated sample to the inductively coupled plasma torch. Here, the sample plume is disassociated into atomic species and the atoms are ionized. Then, the ionized atoms enter the mass spectrometer and are analyzed to determine the number of atoms at each atomic weight. The resulting data set, or particle count at each mass number, directly indicates the elemental and isotopic species and their populations in the sample.

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