High current microsecond pulsed hollow cathode lamp excited inductively coupled plasma ionic fluorescence spectrometry of Eu,Yb,Ca,Sr and Ba with an extended-sleeve torch

Abstract

Inductively coupled plasma ( ICP) is a powerful atomizer for atomic fluorescence spectrometry ( AFS) but high degree of ionization in high temperature of plasma at lower observation height and easy combination with oxygen at high observation height significantly decrease fluorescence intensity of refractory elements. Inoic fluorescence spectrometry (IFS) of Eu, Yb,Ca,Sr and Ba was investigated with high current microsecond pulsed (HCMP) hollow cathode lamps (HCLs) and an extended-sleeve torch adopted in commercial Baird Plasma AFS 2000 fluorescence spectrometer. Without introduction of any organic gas or solvent into the plasma, the detection limits (DLs) with HCMP-HCL-IFS was improved by about 1.5 order of magnitude (37x) for Sr, by over 2 orders of magnitude for Ba, and by nearly 1 order of magnitude for Eu and Yb as compared to those of conventionally pulsed (ICP-HCL-AFS). The HCMP IFS DLs of Eu and Yb were even superior to those of dye laser excited IFS reported in literatures.