A new low-power, compact microwave-induced plasma source for applications in atomic emission spectrometry at atmospheric pressure using microstrip technology is described. The gas channel of about 1 mm 2 is integrated in a fused silica dielectric wafer. The microstrip transmission lines are fabricated by sputtering and electro-plating. For example, a unit operates at an input power of 15 W with an argon gas flow of about 500 ml min −1 at atmospheric pressure. Rotational (OH) and excitation (Fe) temperatures of 650 K and 8000 K, respectively, were measured at these conditions. The emitted radiation can be taken up by an optical fibre positioned in the plasma-gas channel thus enabling an axial observation and coupling to a miniaturized spectrometer. The first devices showed an operation time of at least several hundred hours. Further investigations will lead to even smaller dimensions and lower power consumption and open the way for integrated microwave plasma sources with low detection limits as integrable parts of miniaturized total analytical systems applications.

A new low-power, small-scale 2.45 GHz microwave plasma source at atmospheric pressure for atomic emission spectrometry based on microstrip technology is described. The MicroStrip Plasma (MSP) source was produced in microstrip technology on a fused-silica wafer and designed as an element-selective detector for miniaturized analytical applications. The electrodeless microwave-induced plasma (MIP) operates at microwave input power of 10-40 W and gas flows of 50-1000 mL.min-1 of Ar. Rotational (OH) and excitation (Fe) temperatures were found to be 650 and 8000 K, respectively. Spatially resolved measurements of the Hg I 253.7-nm atomic emission line with an electronic slitless spectrograph (ESS) showed that a cylindrically symmetric plasma with a diameter of about 1 mm is obtained. With the MSP, Hg could be determined by applying the flow injection cold vapor (FI-CV) technique with a detection limit of 50 pg.ml-1. In terms of the relative standard deviation, a time stability of < 1.4% for 45 replicates within 80 min can be realized at a concentration level of 10 ng.ml-1 of Hg. Hg could be determined in the leachate of a certified standard reference soil (STSD-4) obtained by treatment with aqua regia at the 930 +/- 76 ng.g-1 level. Results obtained by calibration with aqueous solutions of Hg and with standard addition were found to be in good agreement with those of cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry.

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The art and science of microwave plasma (MWP) optical and mass spectroscopy is briefly presented including very recent advances in the field up to 2011. The use of MWPs as radiation sources for optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (AFS) and as atom reservoirs for atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS), and laser‐enhanced ionization spectroscopy (LEIS) as well as ion sources for mass spectrometry (MS) is treated. Devices for producing both E‐type capacitively coupled microwave plasma (CMP)‐electrode and microwave‐induced plasma (MIP)‐electrodeless MWPs, including inductively coupled plasma (ICP)‐like H‐type plasmas, are classified and discussed, in addition to methods of their diagnostics, and results for the analytically relevant plasma parameters are presented. The means of generation of symmetrical plasmas and uses of microplasma devices are also presented with an effort to comment on general classification of microwave (MW) cavities. Further, the use of MWs for boosting of glow discharges (GDs) is treated along with other tandem sources. Methods for the introduction of gaseous, liquid, and solid samples into the MWP are discussed. They include direct vapor sampling (DVS), chemical vapor generation (CVG), and hydride generation (HG) techniques; dry aerosol generation techniques (electrothermal vaporization (ETV); spark ablation (SA); laser ablation (LA); and continuous powder introduction (CPI) as well as wet aerosol generation techniques using both solution and slurry nebulization. Special reference is made to coupling with gas chromatography (GC) and also with various separation techniques for liquids including high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The analytical figures of merit in the case of OES with low‐power and high‐power MIP, CMP, microwave plasma torch (MPT), MWP‐electrode sources including rotating field sustained plasma and H‐type MWP as well as microplasmas are given. There are also described cases of atomic absorption, fluorescence, and laser ionization with these sources. The developments in MS in the case of both low‐power and high‐power MWPs and in the case of various types of sample introduction techniques are discussed. Applications of MWP analytical spectroscopy are in the fields of biological samples with special reference to microanalysis, and of environmental and industrial samples with special emphasis on element speciation, on‐line monitoring, particle sizing, and direct solids analysis. A critical comparison of the methodology with other spectroscopic methods for the determination of the elements and their species is given.