Comparative parallel characterization of particle populations with two mass spectrometric systems LAMPAS 2 and SPASS

Abstract Two transportable laser mass spectrometers, Single Particle Analysis and Sizing System (SPASS) and Laser Mass Analyzer for Particles in the Airborne State (LAMPAS 2), have been applied to investigate the dependence of spectra patterns on instrumental parameters and data evaluation procedures in an inter-comparison experiment. Laboratory experiments showed the spectral response of both instruments for mineral particles before and after heterogeneous reactions. During a period of 47 h, both instruments determined size and chemical composition of several thousand single particles of an ambient particle population. Time-resolved evaluation (1-h resolution) of specific ion signals, whic…