Inductively coupled plasma optical emission and mass spectrometry

Abstract

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is a highly ionized gas consisting of energetic electrons, ions and atoms. In spite of the high population of ions and electrons it is macroscopically neutral. The plasma is sustained by a continuous supply of energy through electromagnetic induction, or inductive coupling, to a flowing gas [1]. Almost universally used gas for the generation of the plasma is argon, which gives the analytical ICP its unique characteristics. In principle and operation, the ICP is inherently simple, which is evident from the fact that the basic geometry of the plasma torch remains very much the same as that which appeared in the early 1960s when its potential was first demonstrated as an atom source for analytical spectrometry [2,3].