Laser-enhanced ionization spectrometry

About this book

Laser-enhanced ionization (LEI) is a type of optical spectrometry that employs photoexcitation to ionize atoms selectively. Over the past two decades, this method - originally known as the optogalvanic effect - has been the object of extensive worldwide research and the subject of numerous papers and published articles. Until now, however, no single volume has presented this wealth of theory and data in a cohesive and accessible form. Laser-Enhanced Ionization Spectrometry fills this gap in the literature. It synthesizes vast amounts of information previously available only through scattered research papers and covers every aspect of the technology. From underlying principles and theory to methodology and applications. This book examines the state of the art of LEI, compares it with other methods, and demonstrates how laser-enhanced collisional ionization is especially well suited to analytical atomic spectrometry. The contributors to this collaborative effect - from Russia, Australia, Europe, and the United States - clarify terminology, explain the inner workings of LEI, and offer derivations for both idealized forms and realistic approximations. They also analyze the capabilities and limitations of this technique as an analytical method, including instrumentation, sources of noise, limits of detection, interferences, and applications.