ABSTRACT
In recent years, instrumental analysis methods have become extremely widespread in the field of analytical chemistry. There are many types of instrumental analysis methods, but spectroscopy-based techniques are considered to be among the most powerful because they can provide both qualitative and quantitative detection of a large variety of atomic and molecular species. There are many advantages of using lasers as the light source for spectroscopic measurements, and these have been discussed often in previous chapters. From the viewpoint of analytical chemistry, the most important features of laser methods are the high detection sensitivity and the high spectral resolution that can be achieved [1]. This high sensitivity and high resolution are most easily achieved when the material being analysed is a gas, because atoms and molecules in a gaseous environment have narrow spectral features. When measurements of liquid and solid materials are desired, samples are evaporated so that spectroscopy measurement in the gas phase can be performed.
