Preliminary results for electrothermal atomization-cavity ringdown spectroscopy (ETA-CRDS)

We report the first experimental results using electrothermal atomization-c avity ringdown spectroscopy for trace elemental analysis. Lead aqueous stan dard solutions were analyzed using graphite furnace-cavity ringdown spectro scopy and a preliminary detection limit of approximately 1 pg was obtained for peak height absorption measurements. No chemical matrix modifiers were used. These preliminary results together with an estimate of theoretical de tection limits suggest that the coupling of ETA and CRDS has the potential to become a valuable new technique in analytical atomic spectrometry.