Ga. Petrucci et al., ANALYTICAL AND SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF DOUBLE-RESONANCE LASER-INDUCED FLUORESCENCE OF GOLD ATOMS IN A GRAPHITE-FURNACE AND IN A FLAME, Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry, 10(10), 1995, pp. 885-890
Two excimer laser-pumped dye lasers were utilized to excite gold atoms
in a graphite furnace to a high level whose energy is about 1.5 eV lo
wer than the ionization potential of the atom, Collisional coupling po
pulates several levels close to that reached by the second laser step,
from which fluorescence is observed longitudinally with a pierced, pl
ane mirror and detected with a solar blind photomultiplier. The lasers
are tuned to 267.595 and 406.508 nm, respectively, while the fluoresc
ence is measured around 200 nm. Several other excitation-detection sch
emes are possible and are discussed. The best detection limit obtained
, for a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, was 3 fg as absolute amount in the
furnace, or 0.15 pg ml(-1). since a sampling volume of 20 mu l was us
ed. A system in which the vapour produced in the furnace is swept into
a small flame and the resulting fluorescence observed with the solar
blind photomultiplier was also tested and found to be flame background
noise limited, with a detection limit of 8 pg (0.4 ng ml(-1)). The te
chnique was developed in order to determine trace levels of gold in si
ze-segregated, atmospheric particulate samples.