Background Correction in Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS)

I. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is fundamentally a very simple technique. Light at the resonance wavelength of an element can be absorbed by atoms of that element in the vapor phase. This reduction in light from the source is the AAS signal. It is monotonically correlated with the number of atoms through which the light must pass. If anything else in the sample (the matrix) can reduce the intensity of radiation from the source, by scattering or molecular absorption, it will be indistinguishable from the analyte. This nonanalyte signal is called background absorption in this article whether the cause of the signal is scattering or absorption.