A dynamic reaction cell for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-DRC-MS). II. Reduction of interferences produced within the cell

Abstract

An rf-driven reaction cell offers the potential for enormous efficiency in the removal of interfering ions prior to mass analysis in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Concomitant with this efficiency is the potential for interference production within the reaction cell. Operation of a low rf-amplitude quadrupole reaction cell in a bandpass mode, either rf-only or with additional dc voltage between pole pairs, is shown to suppress these in-cell interferences. Examples of various types of interferences (spectral and continuum) are shown, and their elimination without sacrificing sensitivity is demonstrated. The advantage of dynamically sweeping the bandpass in concert with the mass analyzer is shown. The necessity of efficiently evacuating the reaction cell (in this case by venting it to the high vacuum chamber) when reaction gas is not added is demonstrated. Copyright © 1999 American Society for Mass Spectrometry.