New Mass Spectrometers

Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

The team of researchers at the Southwest Research Institute is developing two new mass spectrometer systems: 1) a portable, real-time laser ablation resonance ionization mass spectrometer (LARIMS) in order to enable in-situ isotopic measurements, and 2) a rotating field mass spectrometer (RFMS) for residual gas measurements in high shock environments. For LARIMS, not only are they expanding the basic physical understanding of the underlying atomic processes, but are in addition exploring methods that could enable real-time in-situ isotopic measurements of trace isotopic and elemental systems. By using LARIMS instead of TIMS or SIMS, initial results show that the laser and mass spectrometer systems could be made portable for real-time field use, while maintaining sufficient precision and accuracy for enabling geochronology, geolocation, forensics, archeology, food tracking, and studying nuclear processes. The outcome of this work will enable the construction of field instruments that would move students from 2- week laboratory stints (for one measurement), to real-time field measurements of the target of scientific interest, and is therefore an important development in the field. The RFMS study serves as a proof-of-principle for a new approach for doing mass spectrometry, which if successful, will reduce the size and cost of shock tolerant chemical measurements, also enabling field use by institutions and students that might not otherwise be able to afford such technology.