Rims: Counting Atoms

LE April 1987 RIMS: COUNTING ATOMS by Dr Kenneth W. D. Ledingham, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow Resonant Ionisation Mass Spectroscopy (RIMS) is a unique, ultra-sensitive analytic technique which can detect down to the level of a few atoms. It is applicable to any sample, whether solid, liquid or gas and can be used to assay every element in the periodic table apart from helium and neon, as well as any stable or radioactive isotope. It is likely to find important applications in fundamental and applied physics, and to become a valuable tool in the semiconductor industry and in diagnostic medicine. The need to develop new analytic ways to measure ultra- trace quantities of elements in various substances is becoming urgent in many branches of science, engineering and medicine. There are already many sensitive analytic tech- niques, including neutron or photon activation analysis, in- ductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, atomic absorp- tion and various k...