Vacuum electrothermal atomizers

Vacuum or low-pressure atomizers are used in RIS to obtain collisionless interaction of the free analyte atoms with resonance laser radiation. Different types of GD and vacuum electrothermal atomizers (VETA) are most commonly used in RIS. In. some specific analytical applications (detection of traces of rare radionuclides) RIS is used on-line with fast atomic beams. 

Traces of Na, Al, and B in high purity Ge were detected by RIS with direct electrothermal atomization of solid Ge chips in vacuum. For all these elements, two-step excitation of Rydberg states and electric field ionization were used. The meas-... 

Plasma AES has several advantages (possibility for the qualitative and simultaneous multi-element analysis, measurements in the vacuum UV region, high sensitivity, low detection limits, less chemical interferences, low running costs) and it has become more and more important for the determination of traces in a great variety of samples. On the other hand, it does not compensate totally for any other instrumental method of analysis, but it compensates for those faults which might exist in other techniques. The complementary nature of plasma AES and AAS capabilities for trace elemental analysis is an important feature of these techniques. Plasma AES exhibits excellent power of detection for a number of elements which cannot be determined or are difficult to determine at trace levels by flame AAS e.g. B, P, S, W, U, Zr, La, V, Ti) or by electrothermal AAS (B, S, W, U). Thus, optical plasma emission and atomic absorption are not actually alternatives, but in an ideal way complement one another. 

---