Laser Microplasma-Gas Chromatography Detector. 2. Detection of Species-Specific Fragment Emission
Abstract
Characteristic laser-produced microplasma emissions from various simple carbon-containing vapors entrained in a He carrier gas have been observed and compared. A focused ArF (193 nm) excimer laser is used to induce microplasmas with modest pulse energies (15 mJ or less) in the effluent region of a gas chromatography (GC) capillary column. Strong atomic (C, H, O, C1, and F), as well as modular (C2, CH, and CC1) emissions are observed with very high signal-to-noise ratios. A plasma emission survey indicates that different classes of molecules show unique spectra which make it relatively easy to distinguish one chemical class from another. These results suggest that a laser microplasma gas chromatography detector (LM-GCD) should offer additional discrimination/resolution for unknown sample gas mixture analysis. In addition, the LM-GCD exhibits a significant advantage over certain other GC detectors, like the widely used flame ionization detector (FID), by readily detecting non- responsive gases such as CO, CO2, CC14, and freons.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA228373
Entities
People
- Andrzej W. Miziolek
- Brad E. Forch
- Jeffrey B. Morris
- Randy J. Locke
Organizations
- Ballistic Research Laboratory