MULTIELEMENT DIODE-LASER ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY IN GRAPHITE TUBE FURNACES AND ANALYTICAL FLAMES

We report simultaneous background-corrected absorption measurements of lithium, potassium, rubidium and caesium in an air-acetylene flame and of lithium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, strontium and barium in a commercial graphite-tube furnace with a semiconductor diode laser spectrometer, which includes six independently operating laser diodes. Preliminary analytical figures of merit for this multielement technique are given and compared with the corresponding data of conventional single-element atomic absorption spectrometry, applying hollow cathode lamps as radiation sources.