Abstract
An ion probe method for the quantitative measurement of rare earth elements (REE) in phosphates is presented. The measurements are made with a Cameca IMS 3F ion microprobe. All complex molecular interferences are removed effectively with moderate energy filtering and the remaining mass spectrum is deconvoluted into contributions from REE and their monoxides only. Corrections for fluorides, which are present in fluorapatites, can be made. Sensitivity factors relative to Ca are determined from a terrestrial apatite standard. Comparison with other standards of known REE concentrations shows that working curves are linear over a wide range of concentrations. The method allows the measurements of all REE in spots of 5–20 μm in diameter. Detection limits depend on the overall REE pattern but are generally ⩽ 50 p.p.b. for the light REE and ∼ 200 p.p.b. for the heavy REE. Preliminary measurements on oxides show that this technique can be extended successfully to other phases.
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