SAPPHIRE Offers The Ideal Solution for Precise and Accurate Isotopic Analysis for a Wide Range of Applications.

Nu Instruments, a world leader in the design and manufacture of high- performance mass spectrometers, is pleased to announce the release of SAPPHIRE, a new collision / reaction cell multi-collector inductively coupled mass spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS).

“The collision-cell capable instrument builds on Nu Instruments’ field-proven Multi-Collector ICP- MS platform (with over 170 installed instruments worldwide) adding unrivalled capabilities to that platform,” notes Dr Phillip Freedman, Nu Instruments Chief Technology Officer.

SAPPHIRE features a high-energy path that enables the instrument to be used as a traditional Multi-Collector ICP-MS with no compromise in performance, as well as a low-energy path in which the ion beam is directed through a hexapole collision cell for the removal of the ICP-induced molecular species that interfere directly with the atomic ions of the same nominal mass of some non-traditional isotopes.

Thanks to its unparalleled performance for measuring some of the most-challenging, non- traditional stable isotope systems, such as Mg, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Ni and Se, SAPPHIRE opens up a wealth of new applications for geochemistry, cosmochemistry and life sciences.

SAPPHIRE makes it possible to analyse these systems in low-resolution mode by removing the molecular species, without compromising the ion transmission, significantly reducing sample size requirements, and pushing the isotopic measurement precision and accuracy to the counting statistics level.

Nu Instruments continues to lead innovation in isotope ratio analysis, with SAPPHIRE bringing additional capability to Multi-Collector ICP-MS, allowing the measurement of even more isotope systems by using this now well-established technique.