Study on Spatial Resolution for Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry Line Scan Method

Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has been widely applied to in-situ analysis as a useful technology. LA-ICP-MS line scan ablation has greater advantages than spot ablation on the study of space distribution of elements, which attracts greater attention in the academic community. Spatial resolution is an effect factor for analysis results during the line scan process. Overlaps of the signal from different laser pulses may lead to a reduction in lateral spatial resolution. A single pulse' experiment to study the signal structures of different elements by using Chinese Geological Standard Glasses and the influence for spatial resolution of LA-ICP-MS line scans has been designed. The results show that the spatial resolution of LA-ICP-MS line scans is acceptable when the laser beam spot is 40 μm.