Determination of Trace Elements in Sintered and Single-Crystal Silicon Carbide by Laser Ablation in Liquid Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.

Laser ablation in liquid (LAL) sampling method transformed hard-to-digest materials to soluble particles, and thus allowed for smooth decomposition by acid digestion. LAL sampling is useful to generate nanoparticles from samples with less contamination. After acid digestion, trace elements in the LAL-sampled particles were analyzed by solution nebulization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). For the first time we demonstrated that LAL-ICPMS can be used to determine trace elements in hard-to-digest samples; sintered SiC and single-crystal SiC. Results obtained by laser ablation ICPMS and LAL-ICPMS were compared in terms of accuracy and detection limits. The detection limits of LAL-ICPMS were 0.04 - 0.4 μg g-1 for Al, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Sr, Y, Zr, and W. LAL-ICPMS is expected to be used to control contamination in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices.