Application of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry in analytical control of single crystals of potassium titanylphosphate: Spectral interferences, line selection, detection limits and trace element determination

The present paper is a new application of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) to the determination of Na, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Al, Mg, Rh, W, Pt, Ge, Rb, Zr, Nb, Ce, Nd, Eu, Tb, Er and Yb, present as dopants or impurities in single crystals of potassium titanylphosphate (KTP). The investigations cover: (a) spectral data for potassium, titanium and phosphorus as interferents for 400 pm wide windows centred (+/- 200 pm) around the prominent lines of the analytes; (b) a data base of Q-values for line interference (Q(I)) and Q-values for wing (background) interference (Q(W)) for two values of the excitation temperature-6200 K and 7200 K; and (c) detection limits for the dopants and impurities in the presence of 8 mg ml(-1) KTP in solution, measured by using the ''true detection limit'' criterion as proposed by Boumans and Vrakking [Spectrochim. Acta, 42B (1987) 819; 43B (1988) 69]. The lines with the lowest values of true detection limits were selected for analyte determination. Using the ICP-AES method, data were obtained for the average dopant content in the single crystals of KTP, the dopant distribution along the growth axis of the crystals and the impurity content. The precision of the method is characterised by an RSD of 2-6%, the accuracy of the method was assessed by comparison with a flame AAS method. This article is an electronic publication in Spectrochimica Acta Electronica (SAE), the electronic section of Spectrochimica Acta, Part B (SAB). The hardcopy text is accompanied by a disc with data and text files. The data files comprise in particular the tabular material of this article in electronic form. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.