Continuous wave intracavity dye laser absorption with an inductively coupled plasma

It is demonstrated that a continuous wave dye laser is capable of operation in an extended cavity fashion while an ICP is running normally intracavity. In the present system, an ICA enhancement factor of 2.5 X 104 for Na is measured as compared to extracavity absorption. For sodium, the detection limit is 0.6 ng/mL using optogalvanic-resonance detection. Due to the limited wavelength coverage of the device, detection limits for five other elements are about 1 μg/mL. The predominant noise source was determined to be wavelength fluctuations in the dye laser output caused by ICP turbulence. The possibility of performing ICP, or other plasma, diagnostics with CW ICA is addressed. 28 references, 2 figures, 1 table