Optical Emission Spectroscopy is often referred to as OES. It is a reliable analytical technique that is extensively-used. It establishes the elemental composition of various metals. OES uses the visible part and part of the ultraviolet of the electromagnetic spectrum. That is about 130 up to about 300 nanometers of wavelength.

Major components

OES analyzers all contain three major components.

Electrical source

The first component is an electrical source. It excites atoms within a metallic sample for them to emit optical emission lines. A small part of the sample needs to undergo over thousands of degrees Celsius. An electrical high voltage source does this in the spectrometer via an electrode. There is a difference in electrical potential between the electrode and the sample. It produces an electrical discharge that passes through the sample. The surface of the material gets heated and vaporized. The element-characteristic emission lines then appear.

Optical system

The second component is the optical system. The multiple-optical emission lines from the plasma pass into the spectrometer. The incoming light gets separated into element-specific wavelengths by a diffraction grading. The intensity of light gets measured for each wavelength by a detector.

Computer system

The computer system, the third component, gets the measured intensities. It processes this data using a predefined calibration. The result is the elemental concentrations. There is minimal operator intervention due to the user interface. The clear results are available for printing. Storage for future reference is also possible.

Advantages

There are many analytical techniques other than OES. Compared to others, OES has plenty of advantages. It is fast and very easy to use. It measures a wide range of elements and concentrations unlike other techniques. These include boron, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. It can even process different types of materials. The accuracy when measuring low levels of trace and tramp elements is great. Unlike most analytical techniques, OES has a much lower cost.

OES is the most preferred method for trace analysis of metals. It is also the only method which can analyze carbon and nitrogen on site. Even out of the laboratory.

Instruments

One of the great instruments for OES is Agilent 5900 ICP-OES Instruments. Designed for high-throughput labs, it can perform well to meet high demands. It offers processes at a lower cost per sample and in a shorter time. This smart ICP has innovative freeform optics. It also has an ecosystem of embedded sensors, algorithms, and diagnostics. This ICP, fully-optimized for max throughput, gives the edge over any competition. Its Neb Alert feature prevents wasted time and cost due to troubleshooting. It monitors the nebulizer and gives off an alert when it needs cleaning or when it is leaking. The IntelliQuant Screening makes collecting data easier. There is no need to choose which elements or wavelengths to analyze.