CHAPTER 13:Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry

Originally, glow discharge (GD) plasmas were used as ion sources in the early days of mass spectrometry, in particular at the beginning of the 20th century on the pioneering studies carried out by J. J. Thomson, A. J. Dempster, and F. W. Aston. Today, glow discharge ion sources coupled to sector field mass spectrometers (GDSFMS) are mostly applied to direct solid sample multi-element and ultra trace analysis of high purity materials, mainly for electronics and photovoltaics industry. Limited matrix effects are shown in GDSFMS due to temporally and spatially separation of atomization and ionization processes. Most elements of the periodic table, except noble gases, can be measured and quantified to certain extents. Quantification is usually based on the ion beam ratio (IBR) between analyte and matrix ion signals. The range of quantification reaches from semi-quantitative to fully quantitative analysis. A concise overview of the technical background of GD ionisation as well as the numerous applications of this technique is given here.