Showing 6 results for Author: Matt C. Darnell
Sep, 2026
Journal
Single particle – multi-collector – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (SP-MC-ICP-MS) was employed to measure a suspension of 1 µm U3O8 particles (∼1.3 pg total U/particle) to determine their individual isotopic compositions of 234U/238U, 235U/238U, and 236U/238U. The effects of different detector combinations for 235U and 238U, including secondary electron mul…
Nov, 2025
Journal
In this study we present the results of combined U-Pu and Ba-Cs isotope measurements obtained by laser ablation (LA) sampling of two glassy debris fragments (‘Trinitite’) from the world's first atomic bomb detonation conducted in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Our primary goal in conducting these measurements was to understand whether examination of the U-Pu and Ba-Cs system…
Sep, 2025
Journal
We present an initial investigation into the performance of a multicollector inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometer equipped with a pre-mass filter (Neoma MC-ICP-MS/MS) for making plutonium (Pu) isotope ratio measurements on solutions containing low level (i.e., pg mL–1) Pu concentrations. This assessment was achieved by comparison of the 240Pu/239Pu, 241Pu/239Pu, and…
Jun, 2025
Journal
Particle analysis has benefitted from the advent of single particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) due to its robustness, sensitivity, and high-throughput nature. Previous methods of spICP-MS have typically utilized quadrupole or time-of-flight mass analyzers and therefore employ electron multiplier-based detectors (such as secondary electron multi…
Jun, 2025
Journal
Rationale Mass spectrometric measurement of the 230Th/234U ratio to calculate the purification age of enriched uranium is typically conducted via a combination of ion counters and faraday detectors, thus requiring an inter-detector calibration scheme. Our aim is to understand whether the pursuit of a simplified measurement scheme involving only faraday detectors is feasibl…
Jun, 2024
Journal
In this paper we present basic observations regarding the formation and effect of various polyatomic metallic interferences (combinations of Pb, Al, Si, Mo, W, Fe, Sn, Ti, Ba, and Pt) on uranium isotopic ratios measured via a new Multi Collector – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) platform: The ThermoFisher Scientificâ„¢ Neoma® (without the MS/MS® co…