A New Spectrographic Spark Source

Abstract

ABOUT a year and a half ago, our attention was directed to the relative instability of the condensed spark sources generally in use for quantitative spectrographic analysis. Consequently, work was carried out with the object of stabilizing the electrical excitation conditions in the analytical gap. The investigation led us to consider two general types of excitation circuits, namely, the high-voltage high-power circuit and the low-voltage controlled A.C. arc. In both these circuits the discharge is initiated by means of a synchronized trigger-circuit employing enclosed auxiliary spark gaps of the 'Trigatron' type (a three-electrode gap enclosed in a high-pressure argon–oxygen mixture).