FLUORIDE INTERFERENCE IN THE DETERMINATION OF BORON BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA EMISSION-SPECTROSCOPY

Boron determination in borophosphosilicate glass films by the ICP-AES or ICP-MS technique can be performed after dissolution of the sample in HF solution. However, addition of HF to boric acid standard solution can cause a drift in the slope of the calibration curve. The signal change was correlated with the kinetics of the borontetrafluoride complex formation reaction. The mechanism was explained by the selectively increased boron transport into the plasma, which was caused by the more efficient diffusion of borontrifluoride gas through the aerosol particles into the nebulizer gas. With the kinetics of borontetrafluoride complex formation taken into consideration, an accurate and precise method was developed for the determination of boron in BPSG films.