SOME PROPERTIES OF A MICROWAVE BOOSTED GLOW-DISCHARGE SOURCE USING NEON AS THE OPERATING GAS

The use of neon as the operating gas for the analysis of aluminium sam ples with the microwave boosted glow discharge source has been studied . A new type of anode tube allowed the gas to enter the source near th e sample surface so that more material was transported into the discha rge. Erosion rates have been measured under conditions optimised for h igh line-to-background ratios and found to be lower than with argon (9 and 21 n/s, respectively). Despite the lower erosion rate the detecti on limits measured for a number of elements in aluminium are in the ra nge 0.02-1 mu g/g and comparable to those obtained with argon as the o perating gas.