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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Selective ultra trace isotope determination in environmental and biomedical studies by high-resolution resonance ionization mass spectrometry

subject

description

The precise determination of relative abundances of ultra trace isotopes in the range below 10 -9 is of importance for a wide spectrum of applications in fields like environmental protection, cosmo-chemistry, bio-medical tracer studies or geological and geo-chronological investigations. The necessary high isotopic selectivity, rather complete isobaric suppression and good overall efficiency for these investigations is provided by high-resolution resonance ionization mass spectrometry. Multi-step continuous wave laser excitation and ionization using diode lasers at a compact quadrupole mass spectrometer has been optimized to become a powerful and reliable experimental method, which is just becoming competitive to accelerator mass spectrometry. With this technique we have performed measurements with high isotopic selectivity above 10 10 on the isotopes 90 Sr and 41 Ca while further studies concern Gd and Pu isotopes. In all cases extensive atomic spectroscopic investigations were required as basis for analytical studies.