Henry Royce Institute — SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETER

The NanoSIMS is a type of imaging mass spectrometer that can be used to measure the isotopic distribution of elements in all types of samples down to 100 nm spatial resolution routinely  It is capable of detecting isotopes of every element in the periodic table at ppm or ppb levels depending upon the element. Typical applications include trace or light element mapping and spatially resolved isotopic ratio measurements. It can be an extremely powerful method for understanding the dynamics of processes by stable isotope labelling in materials across all scientific disciplines. It is also one of the few techniques available that can spatially resolve hydrogen distributions. Read more