Atomic absorption spectrometry spectral bandwidth

H. Becker-Ross, S. Florek, U. Heitmann, R. Weisse, Influence of the spectral bandwidth of the spectrometer on the sensitivity using continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry, Fresenius J. Anal. Chem., 355 (1996), 300. 

Owing to the line broadening mechanisms, the physical widths of spectral lines in most radiation sources used in optical atomic spectrometry are between 1 and 20 pm. This applies both for atomic emission and atomic absorption line profiles. In reality the spectral bandwidth of dispersive spectrometers is much larger than the physical widths of the atomic spectral lines. 

---