Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS): a Personal Odyssey III

Abstract

This essay follows from a Heritage lecture which I gave at the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, in Tucson, Arizona, on January 10, 2012, and is a sequel to my earlier “Odyssey” papers. This essay attempts to describe the joy and frustration of “ten years of wandering in the wilderness”, in the early days of ICP-MS which started for me in 1983. Soon after the installation of our first ICP-MS our research group adapted Laser Ablation (LA) sample introduction which started a second Odyssey. The goal of this essay is to encourage others to engage in the next new multi-elemental procedure when it appears. Finally some “words to live by” will be mentioned, hoping these will also be a guide and inspiration for others.