What does a hollow cathode lamp do?

Hollow cathode lamps (HCL) are discharge lamps designed for use in Atomic Absorption (AA) instruments. They consist of a cathode made from the element of interest, an anode and an inert filler gas contained in a glass envelope.

How does a hollow cathode lamp produce light?

Principal Components of an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer Hollow-cathode lamps contain a cathode of the analyte element and an anode, and are filled with a noble gas. 27 MHz) leads to a plasma within the tube, in which the element is excited and emits specific light.

Why is a hollow cathode lamp used in AAS?

Hollow Cathode Lamps are ideal source of spectral lines that are used for testing in laboratories. Basically Hollow Cathode Effect is electrical conduction at lower voltage. Apart from HCLs, Hollow Cathode Effect gets used in neon signages as well.

What is one disadvantage of a hollow cathode lamp?

The only disadvantage of such lamps is that the useful life of some elements can get shortened as higher current can be passed but this single disadvantage far outweighs the advantages over conventional lamps.

What kind of light source is hollow cathode lamp?

A hollow-cathode lamp (HCL) is type of cold cathode lamp used in physics and chemistry as a spectral line source (e.g. for atomic absorption spectrometers) and as a frequency tuner for light sources such as lasers.

How are hollow cathode lamps used in AAS?

Hollow cathode lamps are sources of radiation in an atomic absorption spectrometer. The cathode of these lamps consists of the element of the analyte. In this lamp for AAS neon atoms are accelerated by a strong electric field. Meet the neon atoms at the cathode, where they beat out atoms.

How does a hollow cathode lamp clean up?

Clean-up is the lowering of filler gas pressure due to adsorp- tion of gas atoms onto surfaces within the lamp. This eventu- ally results in a gas pressure which is too low to sustain the discharge. At this stage the lamp has reached the end of its lifetime. Although the lamp will glow, no measurable atomic spectral line will be detected. Anode

Why do we use PerkinElmer for hollow cathode lamps?

Every genuine PerkinElmer lamp is designed for use with and tested on PerkinElmer spectrometers to assure compatibility and the highest performance. To prolong the life of a Lumina Hollow Cathode Lamp (HCL), we produce lamps with larger internal volume so that a greater supply of fill gas at optimum pressure is available.