Improvements in sensitivity in IRMS measurements

An increase in the sensitivity of isotope ratio mass spectrometers is required to meet the demands of researchers for smaller sample sizes, higher resolution sampling, and increased precision. Many applications would benefit from improved sensitivity, for example biological samples which have very high C:N ratios, archaeological collagen samples which have very small amounts of sulphur, trace gases of very low concentrations, tree ring samples where the temporal resolution is limited by sample size, or any compound specific measurements where some compounds are present in very small amounts.

Following an analysis of the ion optics of Sercon’s Nier-type electron impact ion source, Sercon have made modifications which improve the overall efficiency of the source and the improvements in sensitivity are significant. The precision of our IRMS instruments has been improved and smaller samples are able to be measured, improving analytical capabilities for their customers.