Glow discharge mass spectrometry — A versatile tool for elemental analysis

Summary Among recent MS techniques for elemental analysis, Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry (GDMS) covers the field of direct analysis of conducting and semiconducting solids. In GDMS, a glow discharge in a working gas — usually Ar — at reduced pressure serves to atomize a solid sample by cathodic sputtering and to ionize the vapourized atoms. Ions are separated according to mass by a quadrupole filter (with low mass resolution) or a double focusing device (with high mass resolution). Use of a working gas implies the appearance of spectral interferences by molecular ions. Analysis may be impeded by these interferences, even in the case of high mass resolution. GDMS shows convincing analytical performance. Detection limits in the low ng/g region and even below can easily be realized. Precision is normally in the low percentage region, and a dynamic region of about nine orders of magnitude may be covered. Matrix effects are of no significant influence, and elemental sensitivities are within one order of magnitude. Semiquantitative analysis without standards is possible with limited accuracy, which is of considerable practical interest in the sub-microtrace region. Application experiences have mainly been gathered in analysis of very pure materials and semiconductors. GDMS has also been applied successfully for analytical characterization of technical surface layers.