1. Glow discharge for analysis

1.1 Introduction

Atomic absorption (AA), atomic fluorescence (FA), optical emission (EO) and mass spectrometry (MS) are the various analytical methods that can take advantage of these glow discharges, as illustrated in figure 1 .

Its relative simplicity and reliability, combined with reasonable cost, have made glow discharge an attractive source of direct analysis of solid samples, particularly by optical spectrometry. This is known as glow discharge spectrometry (GDS) [52] or mass spectrometry (GDMS).

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