ICP-AES versus (LA-)IPC-MS: Competition or a happy marriage? – A view supported by current data

An assessment of the practical implementation of several spectroscopic analysis methods in the analytical service department of the reserach laboratory of a large electronic industry is provided. The emphasis is on inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The evolution of these methods in the department in recent years and their present position in the light of the analysis requests is introductory discussed. A “preview” assessment of the methods in terms of their strong and weak points then forms the basis for a subsequent discussion in which representative examples are used to illustrate in detail why in a particular situation a particular method is applied as the preferred one. It is concluded that ICP-AES is the most rugged and flexible, and therefore the most often applied method, while ICP-MS is uniquely suitable for ultra-trace and survey analysis of solutions and LA-ICP-MS is uniquely suitable for direct solids and local analysis. The ultimate conclusion is that neither of the three methods alone can answer all the analytical questions: they supplement and complement each other, and may even require supplementation by classical analytical methods.