Laser atomic photoionization spectral analysis of element traces

Abstract

A new method for determining trace amounts of elements in a substance has been developed. It is based on thermal evaporation and atomization of a substance in vacuum and detection of the released trace atoms by the laser stepwise photoionization technique. A rather effective way of detecting atoms is their multistep excitation to Rydberg states by the radiation of tunable dye lasers with their subsequent ionization by electric field pulses. The analytical laser spectrometer consisting of several tunable, pulsed dye lasers, a vacuum chamber with an atomizer and a recording system is described. The microimpurities of elements have been detected in pure materials: the contents of Na impurities in CdS crystals (2×10−6%) and Al impurities in germanium (2×10−7%). The detection limit of about 10−9% was determined. A technique for direct determination of the content of elements in natural water and human blood is described. A high sensitivity, universality and other merits of the method enable it to be used in determining traces of many important elements at a level of 10−8 to 10−11% almost in any matrix.