A new resonant Laser-SNMS system for environmental ultra-trace analysis: Installation and optimization

Abstract Localization, analysis and mobility of radioactive contaminated particles is of major concern for assessment of contamination threads and nuclear forensics. For this purpose, a new resonant Laser-SNMS system was developed and set up at the Institute for Radioecology and Radiation Protection for spatially resolved ultra-trace analysis of low concentrated radionuclides directly on environmental samples. This paper describes the adaption and combination of a dedicated Ti:sapphire laser system with a commercial TOF-SIMS instrument for resonant Laser-SNMS. The project includes computer simulations for optimization of the TOF analyzer. Results on synthetic uranium and technetium samples verify the expected excellent suppression of interfering isobaric contaminations.