Laser ablation in analytical chemistry - a review

Date Published
05/2002
Publication Type
Journal Article
Authors
DOI
10.1016/S0039-9140(02)00053-X
LBL Report Number
LBNL-48521
Abstract

Laser ablation is becoming a dominant technology for direct solid sampling in analytical chemistry. Laser ablation refers to the process in which an intense burst of energy delivered by a short laser pulse is used to sample (remove a portion of) a material. The advantages of laser ablation chemical analysis include direct characterization of solids, no chemical procedures for dissolution, reduced risk of contamination or sample loss, analysis of very small samples not separable for solution analysis, and determination of spatial distributions of elemental composition. This review describes recent research to understand and utilize laser ablation for direct solid sampling, with emphasis on sample introduction to an inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Current research related to contemporary experimental systems, calibration and optimization, and fractionation is discussed, with a summary of applications in several areas.

Journal
Talanta
Volume
57
Year of Publication
2002
Issue
3
Pagination
425-451
Accession Number
138
Keywords
Organizations
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