DEVELOPMENT OF HELIUM ICP-MS USING AN ENH ANCED VORTEX FLOW TORCH

To overcome some problems of the argon ICP-MS, a helium ICP-MS device was developed using an enhanced vortex flow torch. Effects of sampler- skimmer distance on the pressure in the 2nd stage and on the ion signa l intensities were studied and it was found that both the Mach disk po sition and the most suitable position for analysis are 7 mm. No backgr ound spectral peak was found at m/z values over 32 except for copper f rom the sampler. Ion intensities of neon and krypton that were low in sensitivity in argon ICP-MS due to their high ionization energies were as much as 36 and 24 times greater in He ICP-MS, respectively.