The comparision of comtemporary ICP-MS

The ICP-MS refers to Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry.
ICP-MS
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a very sensitive and time-efficient
technique for elemental analysis, and about 80 elements can be determined at the part per billion
(ppb) or part per trillion concentration of element in the solution.

The foremost part of this technique is the plasma created by accelerated electrons colliding with
argon atoms. A rapidly changing magnetic field then accelerates the released electrons. The
process continues and reaches equilibrium between the rate of release of new electrons and the
rate of recombination of electrons with argon ions (atoms that have lost an electron). The
temperature of the plasma is very high up to 10,000 K. Due to this harsh condition, the sample is
mostly atomized and ionized when introduced to the plasma.

The nebulizer and spray chamber facilitates the atomization and ionization processes by allowing
only droplets that are small and narrow in size to be introduced into plasma. The ions from the
plasma are extracted through a series of skimmer cones and separated by a quadrupole according
to their mass-to-charge ratio and a detector receives an ion signal proportional to the
concentration. The 2 turbo pump keeps the vacuum condition in the mass analyzer; the path of
ions is controlled by an ion lens.

Figure 2.An ICP-MS system overview.[R. Thomas, Practical Guide to ICP-MS: A Tutorial for Beginners,
CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2nd edn. (2008)].

The brands are well known for ICP-MS including: Perkin Elmer(USA), Agilent(USA), Spectro (GmbH Germany) and Brucker. Depending on the purposes and budgets, you can choose the one that is appropriate.
Each system own their advantages:

The SPECTRO MS is a double-focusing sector field mass spectrometer based on a Mattauch-Herzog geometry with a newly developed ion optic and pioneering detector technology. It is the only instrument available on the market today that is capable of simultaneously measuring the complete mass range used for inorganic mass spectrometry from ⁶Li to ²³⁸U with a permanent ion beam going to the detector.
 Brucker

http://www.bruker.com/products/mass-spectrometry-and-separations/icp-ms.html



Spectro

Agilent
Perkin Elmer