Inverse Zeeman AAS

In the transverse AC Zeeman, the polarizer is positioned either between the radiation source and the atomizer or between the atomizer and monochromator. The TT-component of the absorption profile interacts with the radiation polarized parallel to the field and produces the total absorbance signal (specific and non-specific absorption). The radiation polarized perpendicular to the field interacts only with the non-specific absorption and therefore this can be used to measure the background absorption. 

The most significant advantage of inverse Zeeman AAS is that the background is always measured directly at the same wavelength as the atomic absorption of the analyte. This permits accurate correction even when the background is highly structured, but not when non-absorbed lines are present. 

In inverse Zeeman AAS there are some practical constraints on the atomizer due to the need to have the magnet pole-pieces as close together as possible in order to keep the field strength (and the power supply required) as small as can be achieved. Hence, in the case of the flame atomizers, water cooling is necessary to prevent overheating of the magnet pole-pieces. 

The magnetic field can be produced by a constant or changeable DC magnet, or by an AC magnet. The field can be parallel to the radiation beam or perpendicular to it. The design of an instrument in which the field is parallel with the radiation beam is technically difficult, and so far in all 

A constant field may be simpler and cheaper to obtain than an alternating field, but there are several problems encountered with this system  

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The Zeeman effect arises from the interaction of an external magnetic field ivith the magnetic moment of the emitting (direct Zeeman effect) or absorbing (inverse Zeeman effect) atom, resulting in split emission lines. This phenomenon has made a significant contribution to nonatomic background correction in atomic absorption spectrometry, especially in electrothermal AAS ivhere more serious nonatomic, nonspecific absorptions occur. 

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