Primary studies of the microsecond pulsed glow discharge as an emission source using a conventional hollow cathode lamp

Abstract

Primary investigations on the operation of a glow discharge in the microsecond regime as an emission source have been carried out by using conventional hollow cathode lamps. By passing large currents of short duration repetitively through a conventional hollow cathode lamp, and making use of a gated detection system, light intensity enhancement of up to 3–4 orders of magnitude can be achieved with respect to dc operation. Intensity comparisons have been conducted on 4 hollow cathode lamps, As, Ca, Cu and Ti, for both the analyte and the filler gas species. The effects of variation of pulse conditions were examined in great detail on a Ti lamp. Temporally resolved voltage, current and emission profiles, with the analytical characteristics, demonstrate that micro-second pulsed operation does offer unique analytical advantages.