Patent ID: 9443708
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: G01N,H01J

Claim Text:
1. A method for ultrasensitive determination of a target isotope in a sample, the method comprising the steps of: mass-selecting ions of the target isotope in a mass-selective spectrometer introduced from a high-temperature plasma source to isolate the target isotope from sample matrix components and/or contaminants present in the sample; implanting the isolated target isotope onto the surface of a high-purity substrate in an implant area of a selected size to pre-concentrate the target isotope thereon free of sample matrix components and/or contaminants; implanting a known quantity of a tracer isotope in the implant area on the substrate to obtain a ratio of the target isotope and the tracer isotope in the solid state that defines an isotope dilution standard thereon; ablating the implant area containing the target isotope and the tracer isotope; and determining the concentration of the target isotope at a detection limit of at least about 10