Tesla Valve: A Fast Signal Smoothing Device for Rapid Laser Ablation Quadrupole‐ ICP ‐ MS

Laser ablation with quadrupole ICP‐MS has become a crucial tool that is widely used in geochronology and geochemistry. The growing demand for a large number of ablation spots, e.g., large ‐n detrital zircon U‐Pb geochronology, raises experimental costs and requires substantial time. To address this, a rapid aerosol transport system, ARIS (Teledyne Technologies Inc.) is being utilised. Although developed to enhance 2D mapping via faster repetition rates, the system has also demonstrated suitability for large ‐n ablation. However, insufficient sampling of the periodic signal (especially with low repetition rate) can lead to signal aliasing, resulting in high uncertainty. In our study, a 3D‐printed Tesla valve was designed and integrated into the ARIS to smooth the signal fluctuations during the rapid U‐Pb analysis. When operated at a 10 Hz repetition rate and 2 J cm ‐2 laser fluence, with a duty cycle of 40 ms on each mass, the Tesla valve can reduce signal oscillations by more than tenfold, achieve a signal wash‐in time of ~ 0.7 s, and completes 98% signal decay within 0.8 s during the wash‐out. Spot analyses of zircon reference materials (GJ‐1, Plešovice, Qinghu and Mud Tank) with 15 s ablation durations yielded 206 Pb/ 238 U ages consistent with their recommended values (< 1.5% deviation). Furthermore, a re‐analysed detrital zircon sample demonstrated that the short ablation durations (15 s per spot) could produce large‐ n age spectra statistically indistinguishable from those obtained with conventional long ablation durations (> 30 s per spot). Therefore, the Tesla valve‐based smoothing device offers a cost‐effective and easily implementable solution that is particularly well suited for fast aerosol transport systems (e.g., ARIS) and low‐repetition‐rate laser ablation applications.