Capabilities and limits of ICP-MS for direct determination of element traces in saline solutions

An ICP-MS method for the determination of ultra-traces of 24 Elements (Li, Be, Mg, Al, Cr, Mn, Co, Zn, Cu, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, Bi, U) at ng/L to μg/L levels in highly saline solutions (up to 30 g/L NaCl) was developed. Calculated to the salt content of the samples, limits of detection at the sub-μg/kg level were obtained. This allows the measurement of samples like sea water, or clinical samples like urine, serum and whole blood, with few or without sample preparation and a drastic improvement to the limits of detection. Compared to the determination in solutions of 1 g/L NaCl the limits of detection in the original sample were improved by one order of magnitude. Improvements in instrumental stability are achieved by the use of an additional gas, that is introduced to the aerosol stream and avoids salt deposition in the aerosol tube of the torch, the use of High Matrix Content (HMC) cones, that show no clogging even at NaCl-concentrations up to 50 g/L. With this setup the long term stability for measurements with changing matrix concentrations is < 10% without and < 5% with use of an internal standard for the individual samples. Cleaning up is necessary after 2 days of operation. The direct analysis of the Nearshore Seawater Reference Material NRC-CNRC CASS3 showed a good agreement with the certified and measured concentrations. Elements, that do not suffer from an isobaric overlap of matrix compounds can be determined clearly at ng/L levels. Measurement of different matrix concentrations showed, that acceptable results can be achieved with a single calibration for concentrations from 5 g/L NaCl to 30 g/L NaCl, though matrix matching shows the best results.     

A quasiconformal dynamic property of the disk

It is known that every conformai embedding of the disk into the extended complex plane possesses a r²-quasiconformal extension across eachr-level line (the r²-property of a domain). We show here that this is a characteristic property of the disk: any simply connected domain which is not a disk does not admit ther ²-property. Supported by the RiP-program of the Volkswagen-Stiftung in the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach.     

Change in the nature of the Ni diffusion mechanism on the Si(111) surface with adsorption of Co atoms

The diffusion of Ni on a Si (111) surface is investigated by LEED and Auger electron spectroscopy. It is found that, in contrast to the process on the initially clean Si (111)−7×7 surface, on Si (111) surfaces with submonolayer Co coverages the nature of the Ni transport mechanism changes at a temperature of about 750 °C, and the Ni surface diffusion coefficients increase sharply below this temperature. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 9, 611–614 (10 November 1997)     

Application of Q-band electron spin echo spectrometer to investigation of glasses doped with rare earth ions

The Q-band electron spin echo (ESE) spectrometer which was created using modern microwave components is described. This simple incoherent apparatus was used with the X-band one for the study of phosphate and silicate glasses doped with non-Kramers rare earth Tb³⁺ ions. the EPR spectra measured by the ESE method have frequency independent peaks. The experimental results presumably show the existence of several types of paramagnetic centers in studied systems.     

Laser stabilitron

We consider a new method for producing intensity stabilization of cw lasers. This method incorporates negative feedback from a nonlinear saturable absorber to provide wideband noise-reduction and may produce an output beam for which shot noise is below the quantum limit. This new method can be used with a large variety of cw lasers and is particularly applicable to frequency-stabilized lasers which are locked to absorption lines.Permanent address: Institute of Laser Physics, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia