TECHNIQUE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF DRY ATOMIC VAPORS FOR IMPROVED OPTIMIZATION AND DIAGNOSTIC STUDIES OF LASER-ABLATION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA SPECTROMETRY
W. Doherty et al., TECHNIQUE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF DRY ATOMIC VAPORS FOR IMPROVED OPTIMIZATION AND DIAGNOSTIC STUDIES OF LASER-ABLATION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA SPECTROMETRY, Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry, 11(11), 1996, pp. 1123-1126
An ETV technique is described for introducing internal standards (IS)
into the sample carrier gas emanating from LA cells. Unlike 'wet-dry'
dual how systems, this method introduces the standards as a dry vapour
prior to the spectrometer torch, thereby avoiding the polyatomic ion
interferences associated with wet plasmas and the need for specially d
esigned dual flow torches and nebulizers, The IS elements behave simil
arly to ablated analyte elements and polyatomic Ar ions of similar mas
s under changing instrument conditions (lens settings and forward powe
r), The technique offers improved dry plasma spectrometer optimization
over previous methods, and the opportunity for separating and studyin
g confounded LA and plasma phenomena such as the sources of signal noi
se and non-spectroscopic interferences, The system is easy to operate,
and currently produces IS signal stability of less than or equal to 1
% RSD over 15 min and less than or equal to 5% over 1 h, With further
refinements in stability, internal standardization of spectrometer ope
ration mill also be possible.