Improvement in the Analytical Capabilities of LA-ICP-MS for High Spatial Resolution U-Pb Dating of Zircon Using Mixed-Gas Plasma

Figure 5

Effects of plasma condition and ablation spot diameter on RSD, RE, and uncertainty for different zircon SRM (Plešovice and GJ-1). Experimental conditions: (1) plasma conditions (dry plasma or 2% ethanol plasma), (2) spot sizes (10, 16, 24, or 32 μm). It should be noted that the concordance of SRM Plešovice zircon was lower than 90%, when dry plasma was used at the spot size of 10 μm, and is shown using the dotted line. The reason for the missing data of SRM 91500 at the spot diameter of 10 μm is feeble signal of U and Th resulting error ages.