Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1781244 Planetary and Space Science 2013 8 Pages PDF
Abstract
We present model mass spectra of fayalite, forsterite, enstatite, ferrosilite, magnesiohornblende, ferrohornblende, anorthites, albite and Mg-Al spinel, as would be generated by a medium resolution impact ionisation cosmic dust mass spectrometer. Spectral peak intensities are found using ion relative sensitivity factors (RSFs) derived for TOF-SIMS mineral analysis. We demonstrate that, although TOF-SIMS RSFs are a reasonable approximation for the RSFs of impact ionisation, the RSFs for some important elements, such as Si, may differ by up to a factor of four. However, the TOF-SIMS RSFs are in general a valuable tool for predicting the peak intensities of inorganic species in impact ionisation mass spectra of minerals and mineral mixtures. The model spectra are used to estimate the ability of a medium resolution mass spectrometer to discriminate between different mineral compositions, and compared with impact ionisation mass spectra of anorthite cosmic dust analogue particles.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Geophysics
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