Hardware manual

Overview 1
Agilent 7500 Series ICP-MS Hardware Manual 1-3
The following steps provide a brief overview of how the Agilent 7500 analyzes
a sample. More detail is provided in later sections.
1 The sample solution is pumped into the inlet system where it is nebulized,
forming a fine sample aerosol.
2 The aerosol is then carried into a high temperature argon plasma which
atomizes and ionizes the sample to produce a cloud of positively charged
ions.
3 The sample ions are extracted from the plasma into a vacuum system
containing a quadrupole analyzer or mass filter. The analyzer can scan the
mass range very quickly allowing a multi- element analysis to be performed
on the sample.
4 The ions are focused into the analyzer where they are separated by their
mass- to- charge ratio (m/z).
5 The ion concentration of a specific mass- to- charge ratio is measured by an
electron multiplier detector.
6 The count rate obtained for a particular ion is compared with a calibration
plot to give the concentration for that element in the sample (for
quantitative analysis).