Nu Instruments Ltd. - AstruM Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometer

Nu Instruments introduce the next generation of glow discharge mass spectrometers. The ion source has been purpose designed in collaboration with users to provide the best in performance, reliability and flexibility. The double focusing, high resolution mass spectrometer is based on the successful Nu AttoM HR-ICP-MS for accurate and precise elemental analysis.

No compromise design
The Nu Astrum has been designed to be the gold standard in solids analysis. Continuously variable resolution offers improved flexibility whilst the data handling system is purpose built for high throughput measurements. The durable construction of the instrument and proven source design give maximum uptime with minimal intervention. The Nu Astrum is the true workhorse in solids analysis.

Pin and flat sample configurations
The Nu Astrum is capable of analysing both pin and flat samples, and in fact both capabilities are supplied with the instrument as standard. Sample cells of both types are manufactured from high grade tantalum, and additional cells can be ordered if required. The removal and refitting of sample cells is easily done.

Cryo-cooled source
The Nu Astrum comes as standard with a liquid nitrogen cryo-cooled source, including the sample cell. This has a significantly greater cooling effect than Peltier cooling, typically reducing the temperature in the sample cell region to around 150oC. Our own experiments (see application note AN02) have shown that cooling the sample cell to this temperature can reduce the background gases by as much as four orders of magnitude. This is particularly important for the analysis of ultra pure materials where even small gas backgrounds can interfere with the accurate quantification of analytes.