INTRACAVITY LASER SPECTROMETER WITH ELECTROTHERMAL SAMPLE ATOMIZATIONFOR TRACE-ELEMENTS ANALYSES

An intracavity laser spectrometer with graphite furnace electrothermal atomizer and high-resolution echelle spectrograph is described that d etermines trace amounts of lithium, strontium, and barium in water. Th e detection limits of all elements tested are much lower than those ob tained by modern conventional spectrometers. They are 0.03 ng liter(-1 ) for lithium, 0.15 ng liter(-1) for strontium, and 0.2 ng liter(-1) f or barium. Linear standard calibration curves were considerably extend ed by measuring a total absorption of elements in laser spectra. The p recision of the intracavity analysis was found to be approximately 10% for the lowest element content. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.