Development of Radio Frequency Glow Discharge Devices

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This project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of spectrochemical analysis. During the tenure of this three year continuing grant, Professor Marcus and his students will develop and evaluate radio frequency glow discharge (rf-GD) devices as spectrochemical sources for direct solids elemental analysis by atomic emission, atomic absorption, and mass spectrometric methods. The rf-GD approach is particularly advantageous for the analysis of non-conducting solids that do not yield to sputtering/atomization by graphite furnace or other more conventional approaches. Four specific thrust areas for investigation are (1) development of methods for quantification in rf-GD mass and emission techniques, (2) characterization of excitation/ionization processes in rf-GD, (3) exploration of pulsed and variable frequency plasma operation, and (4) development of an rf-GD atomic absorption atomizer. %%% This research addresses an area of spectrochemical analysis which is of major technological importance. It builds upon results obtained under NSF grant CHE-8901788 and should provide the basis for the rapid and reliable direct elemental analysis of glass, ceramic, and other nonconducting solid materials.