Zeeman effect atomic absorption spectrometer

Claim 1

Apparatus for acyclic spectrochemical trace analysis employing the Zeeman effect comprising, in optical train in the order recited, a radiation emission source emitting the characteristic spectral line radiation of an element to be analyzed, magnetic means applying a D-C magnetic field transverse the path of said characteristic radiation in the region of its emission maintaining a substantially steady D-C magnetic flux resolving said characteristic radiation into continuous linear orthogonally polarized radiation components a preselected one of which, the analytical beam, has a specific frequency characteristic of said element to be analyzed and a preselected other of which, the reference beam, has frequencies different from said analytical beam, furnace means open to the passage of said analytical beam and said reference beam for atomizing a sample of a substance to be analyzed, optical means segregating said analytical beam and said reference beam along separate courses according to their simultaneous linear orthogonal polarization directions and within preselected wavelength limits, each course being provided with electronic transducing means developing an electrical signal corresponding to the sensed radiation intensity of the respective beam viewed, means deriving the logarithmic ratio of said electrical signals one to the other, and means utilizing said logarithmic ratio in values specific to separate sample and standard analyses to give the concentration of said element to be analyzed in said sample.