Analytical potential of a laser ablation–glow discharge–optical emission spectrometry system for the analysis of conducting and insulating materials

• An ablation chamber to generate a GD has been designed for LA–GD–OES analysis.
• The combination of LA–GD showed signal enhancements when compared with LIBS.
• Better linear correlations and lower matrix effects have been found in LA–GD.
• Special advantages of LA–GD–OES have been demonstrated for fluorine analysis.

The analytical capabilities of a glow discharge (GD) as a secondary source for excitation/ionization of the material provided by laser ablation (LA) have been compared to conventional laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). In LA–GD both sources can be independently adjusted to optimize the sampling process and then its subsequent excitation. This could involve a number of analytical performance advantages, such as reduced matrix dependence, greater precision and sensitivity than those encountered in LIBS. For such purpose, an ablation chamber design including two electrodes to generate the GD discharge has been built and assayed. A comparison between LIBS and LA–GD–OES has been carried out, both, under reduced argon and helium atmospheres. Different sets of samples (conducting reference materials, glass and fluorine pellets) have been used to evaluate the novel coupled technique. The LA–GD coupled system has shown to provide lower detection limits. In addition, best linear correlations between intensities and concentrations and lower matrix effects have also been found using the coupled system. Moreover, special advantages of the LA–GD–OES have also been demonstrated for the analysis of fluorine.

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