Vaporisation characteristics and detection limits of ion beam thermography

Analytical properties of the chemical speciation method. Ion beam thermogra phy (IBT), have been investigated. IBT combines the multi-elemental ion bea m techniques PINE, PESA, pNRA and cPESA with thermography. During thermogra phy the sample temperature is gradually increased, causing vaporisation of chemical compounds at specific temperatures and the sample at the same rime undergoes analysis by the above-mentioned techniques. The characteristic v aporisation temperature (CVT) and the stoichiometric relations between the elements vaporised at that temperature, identify the chemical compounds. Th is work describes the reproducibility of the method, the dependence of the rate of temperature increase. the dependence of the sample thickness and th e influence from aerosol particle size on the CVT. In addition the minimum detectable mass changes for IBT analysis of marine and continental aerosols were estimated by calculation for major and minor elements, (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.