Abstract

Development of reliable and precise methods for measuring the ratios of the isotopes of oxygen, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O and ¹⁷O/¹⁶O, in silicate minerals with spatial resolution on the order of tens of microns is of considerable interest to the geochemical community. Laser healing or ablation in a F₂ atmosphere releases O₂ tram small volumes of mineral material and so affords considerable reduction in sample size relative to conventional methods. A distinct advantage of laser treatment over other methods of microanalysis is that die liberated oxygen can be analysed using highly precise multicollector, magnetic sector mass spectrometers.

© 1996 IEEE