Plasma light source for spectroscopic investigation
First Claim
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1. central region of said annulus into said tail flame..]. 2. Apparatus in accordance with claim .[.1,.]. .Iadd.13, .Iaddend.in which a capillary tube extends through that end of the third tubular member which is remote from the coil, said capillary tube extending substantially to the end of said third tubular member adjacent the plasma-forming region, and in which the end of the third tubular member adjacent the plasma-forming region has
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Abstract
A plasma of annular form is produced by passing a gas stream along the axis of a coil carrying high frequency-alternating current and a sample is injected through a low temperature central region of the plasma annulus into the tail flame and the resulting spectrum of the plasma is examined.
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Citations
10 Claims
- 1. central region of said annulus into said tail flame..]. 2. Apparatus in accordance with claim .[.1,.]. .Iadd.13, .Iaddend.in which a capillary tube extends through that end of the third tubular member which is remote from the coil, said capillary tube extending substantially to the end of said third tubular member adjacent the plasma-forming region, and in which the end of the third tubular member adjacent the plasma-forming region has
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4. mc./s. 5. Apparatus in accordance with .[.1,.]. .Iadd.13, .Iaddend.in which the insulating gas is the same as the gas used for the plasma
- 6. correspondingly modulated. 7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6, in which the frequency of modulation of the high frequency waveform is
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9. peaks of the high frequency waveform applied to the coil. 10. A method for the spectroscopic investigation of a sample, comprising:
- passing a high frequency alternating current through a coil surrounding a tubular member to define a plasma-forming region in said tubular member;
passing along the axis of said coil within said tubular member three coaxial laminar gas flows, an outer insulating gas flow, an intermediate gas flow of a plasma-forming gas and an inner gas flow for forming a passage through the plasma formed by the intermediate gas flow, whereby the plasma is in the form of an annulus coaxial with the coil and has a tail flame;
maintaining the three coaxial laminar gas flows separate from one another until they reach the plasma-forming region;
introducing into the plasma-forming region means for initiating the formation of a plasma therein when the high frequency alternating current is flowing in said coil;
withdrawing the plasma initiating means from said plasma region once the plasma has been started;
introducing a sample into said inner gas flow and thereby injecting said sample through a low temperature central region of said annulus into said tail flame; and
examining the spectrum of the plasma downstream of the point at which said sample was introduced. .Iadd. 11. A method for the spectroscropic investigation of a sample, comprising;
passing a high frequency alternating current through a coil surrounding a tubular member to define a plasma-forming region in said tubular member;
forming an annular plasma surrounding a low temperature substantially central region and a tail flame by;
passing along the axis of said coil within said tubular member three coaxial laminar gas flows which include an outer insulating gas flow, an intermediate gas flow of a plasma-forming gas and an inner gas flow for forming a passage through the plasma formed by the intermediate gas flow, whereby the plasma is in the form of an annulus coaxial with the coil and has a tail flame;
maintaining the three coaxial laminar gas flows separate from one another until they reach the plasma-forming region;
introducing into the plasma-forming region means for initiating the formation of a plasma in the plasma-forming region when the high frequency alternate current is flowing in said coil;
withdrawing the plasma initiating means from said plasma region once the plasma has been started;
introducing a sample into said inner gas flow and thereby injecting said sample through the low temperature central region surrounded by said annulus into said tail flame; and
examining the spectrum of the plasma downstream of the point at which said sample was introduced. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 12. A method in accordance with claim 11, in which the step of forming the annular plasma includes tangentially introducing the plasma-forming gas and the insulating gas relative to the axis of said coil and tubular member, to impart a rotary motion to the laminar streams of plasma-forming gas and insulating gas. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 13. Apparatus for carrying out spectroscopic investigation of a sample, comprising;a first tubular member; a coil which surrounds a portion of said first tubular member and defines a plasma-forming region within said first tubular member; a high frequency generator coupled to said coil for supplying electrical energy to said coil at a predetermined frequency and power, said coil and its connections being wholly external to said first tubular member; a second tubular member coaxially arranged within said first tubular member to form a first cylindrical channel within said first tubular member; an inlet in said first tubular member for injecting an insulating gas at a given rate into said first cylindrical channel; a third member coaxially arranged within said second tubular member to form a second cylindrical channel within said second tubular member, said second and third tubular members terminating substantially at said plasma-forming region; means for producing an annular plasma having a low temperature substantially central region and a tail flame, including; an inlet in a side wall portion of said second tubular member remote from said plasma-forming region for injecting a plasma gas at a given rate into said second cylindrical channel such that said injected plasma gas flows along said second cylindrical channel toward said plasma-forming region; an inlet in a side wall portion of said third tubular member remote from said plasma-forming region for injecting a carrier gas for a sample; said given rates of injection of said insulating gas and plasma gas, and said predetermined frequency and power of said high frequency generator being such that;
(i) the insulating gas, the plasma gas and the carrier gas flow in their respective channels towards the region of the coil in three coaxial laminar streams, and (ii) the plasma formed by the plasma gas at the plasma-forming region is of annular form and has a tail flame; andmeans for passing a sample through said third tubular member with said carrier gas to inject the sample into the central region of said annular plasma in said plasma-forming region, whereby said carrier gas carries the sample through said low temperature substantially central region surrounded by said annular plasma and then into said tail flame. .Iaddend.
- passing a high frequency alternating current through a coil surrounding a tubular member to define a plasma-forming region in said tubular member;
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10. Iadd. 14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 further comprising spectroscopic examination means positioned to determine the spectrum of said sample in the region of the tail flame. .Iaddend.
Specification