Spectrometric analysis of non-metals introduced from a graphite furnace into a microwave-induced plasma

A low-power helium microwave-induced plasma, sustained in a cylindrical TM⁰¹⁰ cavity, has been used with sample introduction from a graphite furnace. An end-on optical configuration was employed to monitor both atomic and ionic emission from Cl, I, S and P. The operating parameters were optimized with respect to the nature of the plasma background response, the limits of detection, and the shapes and linearity ranges of the log-log analytical working curves. Possible applications were evaluated by determining iodine in milk and analysing a multi-component mixture of sulphur compounds.