QUANTIFICATION OF IMPURITIES IN BRASS USING SECONDARY-ION MASS-SPECTROMETRY - A COMPARISON OF MATRIX EFFECTS FOR CSM(+) CLUSTERS AND M(+) IONS

This study discusses the influence of matrix effects on relative sensi tivity factors in secondary ion mass spectrometry for a quantification study of major and impurity elements in standard brass reference mate rials. A comparison has been made between relative sensitivity factors , which are obtained through acquisition of CsM(+) clusters under cesi um bombardment and of M(+) ions under oxygen bombardment. The data of the present study suggest that the matrix effects have been reduced in the case of cesium clusters, but nevertheless remain significant. In addition, the reproducibility for determining relative sensitivity fac tors improves significantly for cesium clusters.