NAU LA-ICP-MS

The LA-ICP-MS laboratory is part of the School of Earth and Sustainability at Northern Arizona University. The lab aims to address problems in the geosciences through innovative, collaborative, and high-quality geochronology and geochemistry research. 

The lab consists of instrumentation for in-situ and solution analyses of minerals, glasses, metals, etc., including:

• Nu Instruments Plasma 3 multi-collector ICP-MS equipped with sixteen Faraday cups, two low-mass Daly detectors, three low-mass ion counters, and one high-mass Daly detector

• Agilent 7700x quadrupole ICP-MS

• Teledyne/Photon Machines 193 nm Analyte Excite laser ablation system with a HelEx II sample cell

• Teledyne Aridus II desolvating nebulizer system with auto-sampler

We specialize in laser ablation analyses and can operate these instruments either in single LA-ICP-MS mode or in split-stream mode—coupling the laser ablation system to both ICP-MSs for simultaneous geochronology/isotope and trace-element analyses (see Analyses).

The lab is further supported by extensive instrumentation and facilities at NAU, including:

• numerous petrographic and picking microscopes, cameras, and thin-section scanners

• rock crushing and mineral separation facilities (including various rock saws, a Wilfley water table, magnetic separators, and a dedicated heavy liquids lab)

• muffle furnace for annealing (e.g., zircon)

• Scanning electron microscope with cathodoluminescence detector

If you are interested in acquiring data in the lab or exploring potential collaborations, please contact us. We can host visitors and work with researchers at all levels of geochronology and geochemistry experience.