Plasma control for spark optical emission spectroscopy
AssigneesThermo Fisher Scientific (Ecublens) SARL, FEI Company
InventorsPatrick Lancuba, Sean Kellogg
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Abstract
An apparatus for plasma control is disclosed. The apparatus comprises: a plasma generator comprising two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, configured to produce a plasma between the two electrodes; a solenoid coil disposed to surround the plasma and configured to produce a magnetic field parallel to a longitudinal axis between the two electrodes; and circuitry configured for allowing independent timing of the magnetic field with respect to the production of the plasma. A method for plasma control in a spectroscopy system and an optical emission spectrometer using said method are also disclosed.
Claims18
A method for plasma control in a spectroscopy system, the method comprising:
- generating a plasma;
- confining the plasma around a longitudinal axis by applying a magnetic field parallel to said longitudinal axis, wherein timing of applying the magnetic field is controlled separately from timing of generating the plasma;
- and
- observing a spectrum produced by the plasma at a location near or at the longitudinal axis.
An apparatus for plasma control comprising:
- a plasma generator comprising two electrodes, including an anode and a cathode, configured to produce a plasma between the two electrodes;
- a solenoid coil disposed to surround the plasma and configured to produce a magnetic field parallel to a longitudinal axis between the two electrodes;
- and
- circuitry configured for allowing independent timing of the magnetic field with respect to the production of the plasma.
An optical emission spectrometer comprising:
- a plasma generator comprising an electrode, configured to produce a plasma between the electrode and a sample;
- a solenoid coil disposed to surround the plasma and configured to produce a magnetic field parallel to a longitudinal axis between the electrode and the sample;
- circuitry configured for allowing independent timing of the magnetic field with respect to production of the plasma;
- an optical system for dispersing emitted light from the plasma into discrete wavelengths;
- and
- a detection system for detecting intensity of the dispersed emitted light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.