We are using the SuperQ software package provided by PANanlytical for calibration and data reduction. SuperQ treatment of raw data provided by the spectrometer is based on fundamental parameters to calculate interaction parameters to correct for atomic number and background effects. Additional care has been taken to account for the most common spectral interferences known to occur for concentration ranges typically observed for geologic samples, by using energy windows on the detectors to suppress higher order lines and by the use of interference corrections built into the quantitative software package.
Precision of analyzed elemental abundances are better than ±0.2% for SiO2, ±0.1% for the other major elements with the exception of MnO and P2O5 that have concentration errors of ca. ±0.02%. For trace elements relative errors are better 10% for concentrations of 10-100ppm, better than 5% for higher concentrations and can reach as much as 50% at levels below 10ppm.
The quality of the analyses is assured by using drift monitors and systematic approaches on all steps of preparation, analysis and data treatment.
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| Example of major element standardization (CaO) after correction for fundamental parameters | Example of trace element standardization (Sr) after correction for fundamental parameters | |||||
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Comparison of trace element analysis between XRF and LA-ICP-MS analysis on the same glass beads for selected elements |
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