Abstract: A device for propagating microwave energy to a plasma discharge tube from an antenna coupled to a microwave generator includes a hollow rectangular conduit and a strip-line resonator or strip-line conductor disposed therein. The discharge tube is mounted perpendicular to and through a central opening in the strip-line resonator and is disposed at a distance, from one end of the strip-line where the antenna is located, of one-half the wavelength of the microwave energy and one-quarter wavelength from the opposite end. The strip-line is attached to one end of the rectangular conduit and is supported by a dielectric member at a point one-quarter wavelength from the antenna. Microwave energy is propagated from the antenna by the strip-line dimensioned to the resonant frequency of the microwave the energy. A gas, such as argon or helium, is introduced into the discharge tube and is ionized by microwave energy to form a plasma.

Abstract: A method of analyzing a volatile, air or moisture sensitive or pyrophoric, liquid, organometallic compound for an impurity comprising inserting a sample of the compound into an exponential dilution flask, allowing substantially the entire sample to vaporize, and analyzing the vapor by plasma spectroscopy; or decomposing the sample by dropwise addition into frozen aqueous acid, diluting the decomposed sample with water, and analyzing the diluted, decomposed sample by plasma spectroscopy.

Abstract: A spectroanalytical system includes induction coupled plasma apparatus for exciting sample material to an atomic state for analysis, a source of transport gas, a sample chamber for receiving a sample to be analyzed, and heating means for vaporizing a sample to be analyzed in the chamber and forming particles of the sample of sufficiently small size to form an aerosol. The sample chamber is connected in a flow path between the source of transport gas and the plasma apparatus. A supplemental chamber surrounds the sample chamber, and gas is flowed to the supplemental chamber at a higher rate than the gas flow to the sample chamber. A flow restriction between the sample and supplemental chambers normally permits flow of gas from the supplemental chamber into the sample chamber but also provides pressure relief upon rapid heating for sample vaporization that is effective to minimize pressure transients in the aerosol stream that depress the output signal of the plasma apparatus.

Abstract: Disclosed is a novel apparatus for the production of a sustained inductively coupled non-argon plasma discharge in flowing gas in a 13-25 mm (analytical size) containment tube at atmospheric pressure. The apparatus is developed for elemental analysis of injected aerosol or powdered samples, and particularly for air monitoring applications.