PE ELAN6000
WCAS has five ICPMS systems, two VG
PlasmaQuads and two PE ELAN6000 units, and a new ELAN6100. The ELAN6000 shown above is equipped with an
autosampler and a flow injection FIAS unit.
PE Sciex ELAN6000 Interface
This is perhaps the most important part of the
ICPMS. This is where the ions are sampled from the high temperature plasma into the high
vacuum region of the mass spectrometer. This view shows the plasma torch on the right, and
the interface and high vacuum region on the left. The ions travel through two
differentially pumped stages through small (~1 mm) orifices. The first orifice is called
the sampling cone, and the second orifice is called the skimmer cone. The ions are then
focused by a lens into the quadrapole mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer is scanned
approximately 100-200 times at 1 scan/sec or faster. The signals are averaged and sent to
the computer.
