Laser ablation
Abstract
Direct solid sample introduction using laser ablation (LA) into the plasma in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry (MS) or ICP optical emission spectrometry (OES) arose the interest of the scientific community at the beginning of the 1980s. This sample introduction technique possesses numerous advantages because of its limited sample preparation, avoidance of contamination and time-consuming sample pre-treatment procedure, its sensitivity when coupled with ICPMS and its spatial resolution. Elemental analyses at the trace level in solids presents a real interest in numerous fields, such as metalworking industry, petroleum and mining prospections, environmental studies, forensic sciences, and geology. Instrumentation, mainly the laser source and ablation cell, has evolved since the first coupling and those technical advances have pushed the laser ablation technique to a new level of analytical performance.