CAMECA IMS 7f-GEO: Specialized SIMS tool for geosciences

SIMS is applied to a wide variety of applications in geosciences, as it offers both sensitivity and in situ isotopic and/or elemental analysis of solid samples. CAMECA has introduced the IMS 7f-GEO, a compact SIMS model designed to meet the high precision/high throughput requirements of stable isotope and trace element analysis. For high precision/high throughput measurements, the detectors choice is the first issue to consider. It is well known that Faraday Cups (FCs) are preferred to Electron Multipliers (EMs) provided the secondary ion intensities are high enough. Secondly, in the absence of parallel detection, it is crucial to perform the switching between the different species as fast as possible, and to monitor all relevant parameters that may compromise the achievable precision. The IMS 7f-GEO has been designed to meet these instrumental performance requirements.