Influence of sample surface topography on laser ablation process
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Talanta |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914020308031 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121512 |
| Keywords | Laser ablation; LA-ICP-MS; Surface analysis; Surface topography; Fractionation |
| Description | In this work we discuss how sample surface topography can significantly influence the laser ablation (LA) process and, in turn, the analytical response of the LA Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometr y (LA-ICP-MS) method. Six different surface topographies were prepared on a certified aluminiu m alloy sample BAM 311 and SRM NIST 610 to investigate the phenomenon. A l l the samples were repetitively measured by LA-ICP-MS using a spot by spot analysis. The effect oflaserfluence in the range of 1-13 J/cm(2) was studied . For majority ofmeasured isotopes, the ICP-MS signal was amplified with roughening of the sample surface. A stronger effect was observed on the Al alloy sample, where the more than sixty-time enhancement was achieved in comparison to the polished surface of the sample. Since the effect of surface topography is different for each analyte, it can be stated that surface properties affect not only the ICP-MS response, but also elemental fractionation in LA . The presented results show that different surface topographies may lead to misleading data interpretation because even when applying ablation preshots, the signal of individual elements changes. The utmost care must be taken when preparing the surface for single shot analysis or chemical mapping. On the other hand, by roughening the sample surface, it is possible to significantly increase the sensitivity of the method for individual analytes and supress a matrix effect. |
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