The influence of carrier gas in the analysis of alumina by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The influence of carrier gases, Ar and He, on the signal intensities, relative standard deviation of signal intensities and ablated particle size was investigated using 213 nm wavelengths for ablation. Fe, Ti, Mn, Mg, Na, and K in the alumina certified reference material were analyzed with LA–ICP-MS. The results illustrate that the ablation carrier gas strongly influences the sampling efficiency and particle size. In He atmosphere the signals were more stable than in Ar atmosphere for both pressed powders and sintered pellets. Examination of ablated particles and sample surface reveals that more wide surfaces were ablated in Ar, while the particle size was big and irregular in comparison to He.