Multiple Collection-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Inductively Coupled Plasma mass spectrometers ionize a liquid or solid sample using a plasma source, producing an ion beam that is accelerated toward a collector array. The ion beam is focused and filtered by an analyzer before being passed through a magnetic field that separates the ions into distinct beams sorted by their mass-to-charge ratio. These sorted beams are ultimately directed to the array of collectors that measures the abundance of each mass simultaneously. Assuming no isobaric interferences, these masses correspond to isotopes of a single element. By measuring the mass abundances simultaneously, isotopic ratios can be measured very precisely.