Inductively Coupled Plasma –Optical Emission Spectroscopy: A Review

Spectroscopy is the chief experimental technique of atomic and molecular physics and involves determining the energy states of atoms or molecules by looking at the light absorbed or emitted when they change states. Measuring the frequency of light absorbed or emitted which is determined by the energy difference between the two states, can provide a sensitive probe of interactions which perturb those energy states. Among those in this review we revealed that the principle, instrumentation and applications of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. In this sample is usually transported into the instrument as a stream of liquid sample. Inside the instrument, the liquid is converted into an aerosol through a process known as nebulisation. The sample aerosol is then transported to the plasma where it is desolvated, vaporized, atomized, and excited and/or ionized by the plasma. The excited atoms and ions emit their characteristic radiation which is collected by a device that sorts the radiation by wavelength. The radiation is detected and turned into electronic signals that are converted into concentration information for the analyst.