# AMS Research Group - Comprehensive Knowledge Base

## Organization Details
- **Institution**: Ghent University (Universiteit Gent)
- **Faculty**: Faculty of Sciences (Faculteit Wetenschappen)
- **Department**: Department of Chemistry (Vakgroep Chemie)
- **Research Unit**: Atomic & Mass Spectrometry (A&MS) Research Group
- **Address**: De pintelaan 270 Building S12, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- **Phone**: +32 9 264 4844
- **Official Portal**: https://ams.ugent.be/

## Group Leader & Principal Investigator
**Prof. dr. Frank Vanhaecke (FRSC)**
- Senior Full Professor and Head of A&MS Research Unit
- Vice-Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Ghent University
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
- Member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (KVAB)
- Recipient of the European Award for Plasma Spectrochemistry, Theophilus Redwood Award, and Lester Strock Award
- PhD in Chemistry, Ghent University (1992)
- Postdoctoral training at Ghent University and Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Germany)
- h-index: 87+
- >500 peer-reviewed publications
- Supervised over 55 defended doctoral dissertations
- ORCID: 0000-0002-1884-3853
- LinkedIn: https://be.linkedin.com/in/frank-vanhaecke-b8694b9

## Core Research Focus Areas
1. **Tandem ICP-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS)**
   - Targeted collision/reaction cell chemistry with gases (NH₃/He, CH₃F, H₂, O₂) in ICP-QQQ configurations.
   - Elimination of spectral isobaric and polyatomic overlaps via mass-shift and on-mass modes.
   - Ultra-trace determination of challenging non-metals and metals (Ti in serum, P, S, halogens, Si).
   - Single-particle and single-cell ICP-MS/MS.

2. **Laser Ablation-ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) & Bioimaging**
   - Direct solid micro-sampling via high-repetition-rate 193 nm ArF* excimer laser systems.
   - Patented low-dispersion fast-washout Cobalt ablation cells enabling pixel acquisition rates up to 1000 Hz.
   - 2D and 3D elemental and isotopic imaging of biological tissues, tumor specimens, brain sections, and geological materials.

3. **Elemental Speciation Analysis & Metallomics**
   - Hyphenated HPLC-ICP-MS/MS and GC-ICP-MS for chemical form, oxidation state, and biomolecule coordination analysis.
   - Characterization of arsenic species, selenium metabolites, organometallics, and metalloproteins.

4. **High-Precision Isotopic Analysis**
   - Multi-collector sector field ICP-MS (MC-ICP-MS) for non-traditional stable isotopes (Cu, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, K, Sb).
   - Isotopic diagnosis: tracking natural isotopic fractionation of essential metals in human blood and serum for early disease detection and metabolic monitoring.
   - Radiogenic and stable isotope systems (Pb, Sr, B) for provenance determination in archaeology, anthropology, and cosmochemistry.

## Analytical Instrumentation & Facilities
1. **ICP - Mass Spectrometers**:
   - Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS/MS Unit (Tandem MS/MS chemical resolution, 100 µs minimum dwell time)
   - TOFWERK icpTOF2R Time-of-Flight MS (Concurrent full elemental spectrum, high-speed bioimaging)
   - Thermo Scientific Neptune XT Multi-Collector ICP-MS (XHR extra-high resolution, 10¹³ Ω resistors, ultra-high precision isotope ratios)
   - Agilent 7900 Quadrupole ICP-MS (ORS⁴ octopole reaction cell, kinetic energy discrimination)
   - Agilent 8800 Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS/MS (Tandem MS/MS double mass-filtering)
   - Thermo Scientific XSeries II Quadrupole ICP-MS (Hexapole collision cell)
   - Thermo Scientific Neptune Multi-Collector ICP-MS (9 Faraday cups + 3 ion counting devices, Neptune Plus upgrade)
2. **ICP - Optical Emission Spectrometry**:
   - Spectro Arcos ICP-OES (32 linear CCD detectors in Paschen-Runge mount, 130–770 nm range)
3. **Sample Introduction & Laser Ablation Systems**:
   - icpTOF Quantistar Microdroplet Generator (10–200 pL monodisperse droplets, single-cell calibration)
   - Teledyne Photon Machines Iridia 193 nm ArF* Excimer Laser Ablation System (Cobalt fast-washout cell)
   - Teledyne CETAC MVX-7100 µL Workstation (Total-consumption nebulizer, 5 µL volume)
   - Teledyne Cetac Analyte G2 193 nm Laser Ablation System (1–250 µm beam diameter, 300 Hz)
   - Cetac HGX-200 Cold Vapor and Hydride Generation System (CVG for Hg, As, Se, Sb)
   - Cetac Aridus II Desolvation System (Microconcentric PFA nebulizer + membrane desolvation)
   - Cetac U-6000AT + Ultrasonic Nebulizer (USN)
4. **Chromatographic Separation & Speciation**:
   - Agilent Technologies Infinity 1260/1290 HPLC System (Hyphenated to ICP-MS/MS & MC-ICP-MS)

## Historical Decommissioned Systems (1987 – 2007)
- Thermo Scientific Element XR Sector-Field ICP-MS (Since 2007)
- Perkin Elmer Sciex Elan DRCplus Quadrupole-based ICP-MS (Since 2001)
- Finnigan MAT Element (Since 1994)
- Perkin Elmer Sciex Elan 5000 (Since 1993)
- VG PlasmaQuad (Since 1987)
- New Wave Research UP193HE Laser Ablation System
- MicroLas GeoLas 200M Laser Ablation System
- Perkin Elmer HGA 600-MS Electrothermal Vaporization (ETV) Unit