Instruments for highly sensitive investigations of volatiles and planetary solids

Two miniature time-of-flight mass spectrometers, laser ablation/ionisation mass analyser (LMS) and a neutral gas mass spectrometer (NGMS), which were designed for chemical analysis of planetary solids and gaseous samples, respectively, will be introduced. LMS can perform full elemental and isotopic analysis of planetary materials (ablation mode) and can be used for detection of molecular compounds (desorption mode), which can be deposited on surfaces of planetary rocks. Current performance evaluations shows a high mass resolution m/∆m~500 and the effective dynamic range of higher than 8 decades. The limits of the detection for both, metallic and nonmetallic (e.g., B, C, S, P, Si) elements are at some tens of ppb. The LMS instrument can also perform analysis of isotopic abundances at least at per mill