Direct quantification of oxygen in dielectric materials using non-destructive or nearly non-destructive techniques still remains a nontrivial task. Simultaneous assessment of oxygen with other elements in a single analytical procedure is even more challenging. In the current study, a method of direct determination of oxygen and other matrix elements in solid samples, based on time-of-flight mass spectrometry with pulsed glow discharge in combined hollow cathode (CHC) is designed and tested. The possibility to effectively ionise oxygen owing to the electron impact mechanism under short repelling pulse delays has been shown. Stable sputtering and ionisation of dielectric samples were obtained via sample coating with thin conducting layer of silver. The parameters of oxygen quantification were optimised: duration and voltage of the discharge pulse, cell pressure, repelling pulse delay and material of the auxiliary cathode. The calibrations of oxygen, phosphorus and potassium are presented. The intensity of 16O + was shown to be highly dependent on discharge cell pressure. The limits of detection were 0.001, 0.001, and 0.002 mass% for oxygen, phosphorus and potassium respectively. The designed approach enables direct, fast and accurate quantitative and in depth analysis of oxygen-containing samples.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)248-253
Number of pages6
JournalVacuum
Volume153
Early online date22 Apr 2018
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2018

    Research areas

  • Dielectrics, Direct analysis, Mass spectrometry, Oxygen, Potassium titanyl phosphate, Pulsed glow discharge

    Scopus subject areas

  • Instrumentation
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films

ID: 23826290