Microwave-Induced Plasma Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with Solution Nebulization and Desolvation-Condensation

Electrical discharge (plasma)-based analytical instruments are commercially available. These include the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES), the ICP-mass spectrometer (MS), the gas chromatograph/microwave-induced plasma (MIP) AES, the glow-discharge MS, the direct-current plasma AES, and the ICP atomic fluorescence spectrometer (ICP-AFS). High-temperature inert-gas plasmas are believed to be excellent sources for excitation spectrometry—namely, atomic emission, and ionization for mass spectrometry. The success of ICP-AFS, however, indicates that there also is an abundance of ground-state species for sensitive monitoring. The ICP-AFS technique offers parts-perbillion detection limits.