1. Principle

Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry involves the sputtering of the sample to be analyzed, which is placed in a source operating on the principle of a Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT).

The energy used for sputtering material atoms is the kinetic energy of electrically charged or non-charged particles (ions, electrons, atoms, etc.). Because it does not involve material volatilization, unlike other excitation sources, sputtering of the sample is compatible with the depth resolution required for surface analysis.