1982 Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages E185-E191
A laser-ICP microprobe system was constructed by employing a low-energy Nd:YAG laser (max. 0.1 J per pulse) and a commercial laser optical system. The amounts of metals vaporized by a laser pulse, which were measured directly by weighing samples before and after the laser irradiation, ranged from less than 0.01 μg for gold and silver to 130 μg for lead. The length and diameter of a vaporcarrying tube between the sample chamber and the ICP torch affected not only emission signal responses but also reproducibility of intensities. Linear working curves were obtained for chromium, manganese and nickel in low-alloy steels. The detection limits were 0.017, 0.074 and 0.025 % for the single-pulse mode and 0.004, 0.047 and 0.004 % for the multi-pulse mode, respectively.
