High-Resolution, Time-Resolved Spectra of Indium and Aluminum Atoms, Fluorides, Chlorides, and Oxides in a Graphite Tube Furnace

Abstract

High-resolution (4.4 pm), time-resolved (every 0.2 s during the atomization step) spectra of indium and aluminum atoms and molecules (InF, InCl, AlF, AlCl) were obtained in a graphite tube furnace with the use of a xenon arc lamp for excitation and a linear photodiode array detector. The spectra of indium fluoride, aluminum fluoride, and aluminum chloride were shown to be composed of several vibrational bands making up the (0, 0) sequence, while the indium chloride spectrum included vibrational progressions as well. For indium fuoride and aluminum fluoride, the diatomic molecule appeared temporally earlier than atoms of the metal. Spectra of reagents used to produce indium fluoride and aluminum fluoride were similar to previous spectra in the literature that were assigned to In2O and Al2O, respectively. The spectral overlap of the absorption band for aluminum chloride (261.44 nm) with a lead absorption line (261.42 nm) is discussed with respect to its implications for background correction for graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.