Horiba Jobin Yvon Sas

Sebastien Legendre

Patrick Chapon

Agnes Tempez

A system and a process for measuring, by glow discharge spectrometry, the elemental and/or molecular chemical composition of an organic solid sample (). The sample () is positioned so as to seal a glow discharge plasma reactor (), a gaseous mixture including at least one inert gas and gaseous oxygen is injected into the reactor (), the concentration of gaseous oxygen being between 0.1% and 15% by weight of the gaseous mixture, an electric discharge of radiofrequency type is applied to the electrodes of the plasma reactor () in order to generate a glow discharge plasma, and the solid sample () is exposed to the plasma so as to etch an erosion crater in the solid sample (); at least one signal representative of an ionized species of negative charge is selected and measured using a mass spectrometer ().

Process and apparatus for measuring an organic solid sample by glow discharge spectrometry

A glow discharge mass spectrometry device and method, the device including a glow discharge lamp (), gas flow-injection elements, the glow discharge lamp being suitable for forming an ablation plasma in the presence of a plasma gas, and a mass spectrometer. The device further includes heating elements () suitable for heating a gas flow () upstream of a cell (), the gas flow-injection elements being suitable for injecting into the glow discharge cell a gas flow () heated to a temperature T for a duration D, and pumping elements () being designed to pump a flow of gaseous species () out of the cell for the duration D, so as to decontaminate the surface of the sample () and/or the inner walls of the glow discharge cell () before an ablation plasma () is ignited.

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Guyancourt, France

Sebastien Legendre