DELTA Q Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer

DELTA Q™ Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer

Thermo Scientific™ DELTA™ Q IRMS is an isotope ratio mass spectrometer designed for precise measurement of small variations in the natural isotopic composition of elements including carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen. These isotope fingerprints provide valuable information about sample origin, history, and transformation, enabling materials with similar chemical composition but different isotopic signatures to be distinguished.

The system uses a stable magnetic-sector architecture with a monolithic analyzer and fixed alignment of the ion-optical components. This design minimizes the need for mechanical alignment during installation and maintenance while supporting long-term measurement stability and reproducibility.

DELTA Q can be configured with up to 10 collectors, enabling simultaneous measurement of multiple ion beams. It supports isotope ratio applications across a mass range up to m/z 96, together with a simultaneous mass range of up to ±25%, providing flexibility for a wide variety of isotope measurements.

The system provides high sensitivity in both Dual Inlet and Continuous Flow operation. For CO₂ measurements, sensitivity can reach approximately 800 CO₂ molecules per detected ion in Dual Inlet mode and 1,000 molecules per ion in Continuous Flow mode, depending on system configuration and analytical conditions.

DELTA Q can be connected to a broad range of Thermo Scientific peripherals and interfaces, including elemental analyzers, GC interfaces, LC interfaces, preconcentration systems, Dual Inlet systems, and universal Continuous Flow interfaces. This enables both bulk isotope analysis and compound-specific isotope analysis following chromatographic separation.

Support for online H₂ analysis extends the systems capabilities for hydrogen isotope ratio measurements. Depending on the connected peripherals, DELTA Q can be configured for the analysis of gases, liquids, solids, and complex organic samples.

System operation is controlled through Thermo Scientific™ Qtegra™ Intelligent Scientific Data Solution (ISDS). The software automates key system preparation and performance checks, provides ready-to-use workflow templates and quality-control tools, and supports traceability of raw data, metadata, and reported results.

The compact DELTA Q design integrates vacuum pumps and key components within the instrument housing while allowing peripheral devices to be positioned directly above or close to the analyzer. This reduces laboratory space requirements and simplifies the configuration of complex IRMS workflows.

DELTA Q is well suited for food and beverage authenticity and origin studies, environmental and climate research, geochemistry and geology, archaeology, forensics, doping control, natural and synthetic material analysis, and fundamental scientific research.