Development of a Technique to Maximize the Useful Yield in Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) Analyses of Minerals and Glasses

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

0091796 Hervig This award supports research with the goal of determining the optimum conditions for secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) studies of geological materials. This goal will be accomplished by 1) measuring the sputter yield (atoms removed/primary ions striking the sample) of silicate glass bombarded by primary ion beams of O2-, O-, K+, and Cs+ at impact energies ranging from ~22.5 to ~5 keV and 2) measuring the useful yields (ions detected/atoms sputtered) of ~60 trace elements in silicate glass with the different primary species and impact energies, Additional samples (sulfides and glasses implanted with platinum group elements and hydrogen, respectively) will also be studied. These fundamental data will be recast into a general "handbook of optimum analysis conditions" and will allow researchers applying SIMS to problems in trace element and isotope ratio microanalysis to get the highest sensitivity at the lowest cost in terms of sample consumption. ***