Application of Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Ultratrace Analysis of Technetium

This work shows the ability of resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) to determine 99g Tc at the ultratrace level. The characterization of the prepared samples by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and optimization of the RIMS setup for this purpose, as well as the application of the RIMS method to a soil sample, are presented in this article. 97Tc was used as a tracer isotope to determine the amount of 99g Tc in a soil sample with RIMS. With 8.8 × 1010 atoms of 97Tc as the tracer, the concentration of 99g Tc was found to be 1.5 × 109 atoms per gram of dried sample material, demonstrating the sensitivity of the method. Furthermore, it could be shown that the 97Tc solution contained 98Tc as well. This is the first time that 97,98,99g Tc have been simultaneously measured with RIMS.