The LSC acquired a new triple quadrupole ICP-MS/MS, which was installed inside the Clean Room in our underground facilities. The ICP-MS equipment (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer) provides elemental information, either by qualitative, semi-quantitative and/or quantitative analysis, by ionising samples in an Argon plasma generated at atmospheric pressure.
With this new generation equipment located in an environmentally controlled clean room, detection limits in the order of a few parts per quadrillion (ppq) of isotopes such as 232Th and 238U should be reached in samples of the purest materials for the experiments hosted at LSC facilities, setting the stage for future discoveries.
