Comparing several atomic spectrometric methods to the super stars: special emphasis on laser induced breakdown spectrometry, LIBS, a future super star
The ‘‘super stars’’ of analytical atomic spectrometry are electrothermal atomization-atomic absorption
spectrometry (ETA-AAS), inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively
coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Many other atomic spectrometric methods have been used to
determine levels of elements present in solid, liquid and gaseous samples, but in most cases these other methods are
inferior to the big three super star methods. The other atomic methods include glow discharge emission,
absorption and mass spectrometric methods, laser excited fluorescence emission and ionization methods, and flame
and microwave plasma emission and mass spectrometric methods. These ‘‘lesser’’ methods will be compared to the
‘‘super star’’ methods based on a number of figures of merit, including detection power, selectivity, multi-element
capability, cost, applications, and ‘‘age’’ of the methods. The ‘‘age’’ of the method will be determined by a
modification of the well-known Laitinen ‘‘Seven Ages of an Analytical Method’’ (H.A. Laitinen, Anal. Chem.,
1973, 45, 2305). Calculations will show that certain methods are capable of single atom detection, including several
atomic absorption methods, as well as laser atomic ionization and fluorescence methods. The comparison of
methods will indicate why the ‘‘super stars’’ of atomic spectrometric methods will continue to retain their status
and what must be done for the lesser atomic methods to approach ‘‘super star’’ status. Certainly most of the lesser
atomic spectrometric methods will have a limited place in the analytical arena. Because of the wide current interest
and research activity, special emphasis will be placed on the technique of laser induced breakdown spectrometry
(LIBS). Its current status and future developments will therefore be reviewed.
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