A Low Flow Desolvating Nebulizer System as a Tool for Calibration in LA-ICP-MS

Calibration for laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LAICP-MS) is a continuing challenge to analysts. Precise matrix matching is usually required to ensure ablation characteristics and subsequent plasma dynamics are consistent between calibrants and samples. The online addition of liquid standards to ablated aerosol streams has been shown to eliminate the need for precise matrix matched standards and still provide good calibration. 1–9 In this method, a dried aerosol of liquid standards is mixed with the ablated aerosol to prior to the ICP-MS to provide a ‘standard additions’ type experiment: