Communication. Phase angle arrays for the detection of position and shape changes of graphite furnace atomisation signals

Abstract

The phase angle array obtained from a Fourier transform of the absorbance data was used to detect subtle changes in the peak position and shape for graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). For data acquisition at 56 Hz for 4 s, the first six frequencies of the phase angle array contributed most significantly to the peak shape. The sum of the squares of the phase angle differences, ΣΔ², for two atomisations was used as a comparison figure of merit. The ΣΔ² was relatively concentration independent and, in this study, was sensitive to position and shape changes induced by a chloride matrix.