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The development of microplasmas for spectrochemical analysis by optical methods is discussed. Recent achievements in miniaturization are highlighted, especially for three types of plasmas, namely high-frequency plasmas, dc-discharges and microwave plasmas. The potentials of each of these groups of plasmas as sources for atomic emission spectrometry are discussed. Literature citations and experiments indicate that the plasmas are also very useful as atom reservoirs for atomic absorption spectrometry. Methods of sampling, including feeding with gas chromatography effluents, the use of electrothermal vaporization, and the evolution of gaseous species (as shown for the case of Hg vapor), are discussed as prominent interfaces to make use of these sources for elemental analysis.

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A stable microstrip microwave plasma (MSP) operated at atmospheric pressure with a power of some 10-20 W and at a gas flow of 0.2-0.8 L/min of argon in a resonant structure produced with the aid of microstructuring technology on a 5 5 cm 2 quartz wafer provided with a 0.6-mm diameter plasma channel is described. The device is shown to be useful for the excitation of atomic and molecular species and for the atomic emission spectrometric determination of metals and of nonmetals in gases at the trace level, down to the ng/L-level, as shown for the case of sulfur.Index Terms-Analytical atomic emission spectrometry, microwave plasma.