MICROWAVE EXCITED ELECTRODELESS DISCHARGE TUBES CONTAINING ORGANO-SULFUR AND PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS

Recently much interest has been shown in the use of microwave excited plasmas as gas chromatographic detection systems (1-7). These detectors operate by allowing the eluted compound, and the carrier gas, to flow along a silica tube within a resonant microwave cavity. When the pressure of the carrier gas (usually argon or helium) is maintained at a low value (7) (ca. 1-5 torr) a stable plasma is produced which subsequently excites emission from the eluted compound as it passes through the discharge. If a monochromator is used to select a particular emission line or band, the device becomes specific for a particular group or class of compound, or for an elemental constituent. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.