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Published on: June 9, 2016
Improvement of analytical sensitivity by Ar-N2 inductively coupled plasma in axially viewing optical emission
Masaki Ohata1, Yuichi Takaku, Kazumi Inagaki
1National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan. m-oohata@aist.go.jp
Abstract:
The analytical sensitivities of elements were improved by Ar-N(2) inductively coupled plasma (Ar-N(2) ICP) in axially viewing optical emission spectrometry (OES). A commercially available ICP-OES instrument was used, and only N(2) gas was added at flow rates of up to 1.0 L min(-1) into Ar plasma gas. A stable Ar-N(2) ICP was obtained, and the net signal intensities of elements were enhanced by factors of up to 25 compared to those observed for Ar ICP-OES. The detection limits evaluated were also improved by factors from 5 to 10, especially for elements with relatively higher ionization energies. Moreover, the analytical sensitivities for these elements observed in axially viewing Ar-N(2) ICP-OES were superior to those in radially viewing Ar-N(2) ICP-OES reported previously. The Ar-N(2) ICP is expected to be a useful alternative source for excitation and ionization in axially viewing ICP-OES.
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