Fundamentals of Mass Spectrometry

This course explains ion creation, mass separation, and ion detection in mass spectrometry methods commonly used in the Earth Sciences. Gas source (C-O-H-S stable isotope, 40Ar/39Ar, and (U-Th)-He), secondary ionization (SIMS), laser ablation and solution-based mass inductively coupled (ICP-MS) and thermal ionization (TIMS) mass spectrometry techniques are also explored. Additional topics include ion optics, vacuum generation, and pressure measurement, instrument calibration, data reduction, and error propagation methods.