The development of microplasmas for spectrochemical analysis

Miniaturized microwave, high-frequency, and dc-powered microplasmas are discussed, with emphasis on the state-of-the-art and development trends. Specific atomic emission sources discussed include the microstrip microwave plasma operated in argon and helium at ca 10-30 W and below 1 L min(-1) gas at atmospheric pressure, the capacitively coupled microplasma, operated at 13.56 MHz, 5-25 W, and 17-150 mL min(-1) helium, the miniaturized inductively coupled plasma operated at several watts and reduced pressure, and dc glow-discharge plasmas on a chip, including a barrier-layer discharge as atom reservoir for atomic absorption spectrometry. Diagnostics for these sources are discussed and some of their figures of merit are compared with those of conventional sources. Current possibilities for introduction of gaseous samples are reported and scope for further development and outlook are both discussed.