Line-narrowed argon fluoride LA-LEAF for trace arsenic analysis

Abstract

A tunable, line-narrowed ArF excimer laser was used in combination with Nd:YAG ablation for LA-LEAF (LA-LIF) determination of As in steel and dried seaweed. Relative to previous work with a standard ArF, the line-narrowing had minimal effect on the selectivity in steel plasmas. Excitation scanning did show that both the signal and limiting background result from a standard fluorescence mechanism. Preliminary work in seaweed found a detection limit of 1.0 ppm and indicated that more laser energy and further narrowing would improve detection limits slightly. Limiting background in seaweed was ArF-derived.