Determination of trace constituents in high purity germanium tetrachloride by spark source mass spectrometry

A procedure was developed for the determination of trace constituents at sub-ppm levels in high purity germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) by spark source mass spectrometry using the photoplate detection system. Experiments were conducted to study the loss of various elements present in the chloride form in GeCl4 by using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Relative sensitivity factors for various elements were determined using synthetically prepared samples. Blanks were determined for graphite powder and for quartz bi-distilled water. Intensities of the doubly charged ions for a number of elements were also determined and used for confirming the semi-quantitative results. The paper presents typical results obtained in the analysis of high purity GeCl4 obtained from a commercial source. For a number of elements results were compared with those obtained with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.