I. V. Chubinski-Nadezhdin, Yu. V. Kulikov and A. G. Kamenev
Institute for Analytical Instrumentation RAS, Saint-Petersburg
To gain high sensitivity of a thermal ionization
mass spectrometer, the instrument was equipped with a multichannel ion
counting detector designed at the IAI RAS. With the multichannel
detector, it is possible to record mass spectra with good resolution. This
is important for proper identification of spectral background components
and for consideration of their contribution during the isotope analysis
of ultra-small samples. The detector characteristics and the strategy
of isotope trace analysis of U and Pu by the multiple ion counting technique
are discussed. Examples of analytical performance of the instrument and
related technique are given: the volumes of analyzed solutions are 1–10
mkL, the detection limits of Pu and U isotopes (excluding 238U)
are 0.01–0.05 pg/mL, 0.2–0.5 fg of less abundant isotope is needed for
one analysis.