Determination of the uranium backgrounds in lexan films for single particle analysis using FT-TIMS technique

As background significantly affects measurement accuracy and a detection limit in determination of the trace amounts of uranium, it is necessary to determine the impurities in the Lexan detector film for single particle measurements by thermal ionization mass spectrometry coupled with fission track technique (FT-TIMS). We have prepared various micro sizes of the blank Lexan detector film using a micromanipulation technique for uranium measurements by TIMS. Few tens of fg of uranium background with no remarkable dependency on the film sizes were observed in the blank Lexan films with the sizes from 50 × 50 μm² to 300 × 300 μm². Based on the determination of the uranium background in the Lexan film, any background correction is necessary in the isotopic analysis of a uranium single particle with micron sizes when the particle bearing Lexan film is dissected with less than 300 × 300 μm² size. The isotopic analysis of a uranium particle in U030 standard material using TIMS was carried out to verify the applicability of the Lexan film to the single particle analysis with high accuracy and precision.