Senior engineer LI Chaofeng and his team develop a new method of acquiring both ratios of ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd and concentrations of Sm-Nd simultaneously on the same filament arrangement by modified isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) technique.

The measurement time and filament consumption are reduced by 50% with the current method, and therefore, the operation cost of TIMS is significantly reduced. Results obtained from a series of standard rock samples are in good agreement with recommended values.

Figure 1. Comparison results of ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd and¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios between tradition method and current modified method. (Image by LI)

Li et al. Simultaneous Determination of ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd Ratios and Sm-Nd Contents from the Same Filament Loaded with Purified Sm-Nd Aliquot from Geological Samples by Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry. 2012, 84: 6040-6047 (Download Here)