A photoplate calibration technique applied to the determination of hafnium in zirconium by SSMS

A photoplate calibration procedure is suggested for spark source mass spectrometry /SSMS/ with photoplate detection. The technique uses the Churchill two-line method applied to the two stable isotopes of copper. The calibration curve thus obtained is split into fragments and each fragment is approximated by a polynomial. The method was applied for the quantitative determination of Hf as impurity in zirconium sponge obtained from a pilot plant dedicated to the depletion of the hafnium content in zirconium by fractional crystallization.