Twenty-five years of analytical atomic spectroscopy

Abstract

Developments in atomic spectrometry are traced over the twenty-five years from 1960–1985. Although a few other methods are briefly mentioned, greatest emphasis is placed on emission, absorption and fluorescence techniques. Two emission approaches are considered in detail and are based on the high-voltage spark and on the inductively-coupled plasma, respectively. Atomic absorption progress is followed from its earliest introduction, through the trial-and-error improvement of instrumentation, to the recent availability of fully automated commercial systems. Finally, the youngest of the methods, fluorescence spectrometry, is described, its strengths and weaknesses reviewed, and its future potential assessed.