Laser-Enhanced Ionization Spectroscopy [Hardcover]

Laser-enhanced ionization (LEI) is a type of optical spectrometrythat employs photoexcitation to ionize atoms selectively. Over thepast two decades, this method--originally known as the optogalvaniceffect--has been the object of extensive worldwide research and thesubject of numerous papers and published articles. Until now,however, no single volume has presented this wealth of theory anddata in a cohesive and accessible form.

Laser-Enhanced Ionization Spectrometry fills this gap in theliterature. It synthesizes vast amounts of information previouslyavailable only through scattered research papers and covers everyaspect of the technology, from underlying principles and theory tomethodology and applications. This book examines the state of theart of LEI, compares it with other methods, and demonstrates howlaser-enhanced collisional ionization is especially well suited toanalytical atomic spectrometry.

The contributors to this collaborative effort--from Russia,Australia, Europe, and the United States--clarify terminology,explain the inner workings of LEI, and offer derivations for bothidealized forms and realistic approximations. They also analyze thecapabilities and limitations of this technique as an analyticalmethod, including instrumentation, sources of noise, limits ofdetection, interferences, and applications.

After concentrating largely on flame LEI as the most commonly usedmethod to derive LEI measurements, the discussion moves to thedevelopment of nonflame technologies for LEI. There is alsoextended coverage of the relationship between LEI and laser-inducedfluorescence, including an examination of the interplay oflaser-induced ionization and fluorescence techniques in differentatomic and molecular reservoirs.

Laser-Enhanced Ionization Spectrometry places understanding,usefulness, and practical applications ahead of detailedderivations. For practicing analytical chemists andspelB