SEALED INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROSCOPY .2. DETERMINATION OF PHOSPHORUS

The scaled argon inductively coupled plasma requires the addition of modifier gases such as hydrogen or hydrogen chloride at levels greater than 0.5% to maintain stable and reproducible phosphorus emission signals. With the mixed argon-hydrogen atmosphere parts-per-billion levels of phosphine can be determined in a gas sample. Experiments and thermodynamic calculations demonstrate that the chemical reactivity of the modifier gases accounts for detectable phosphorus emission in the sealed plasma.