May 2, 2013

HORIBA Scientific (HORIBA), global leader in Glow Discharge Spectrometry, announces a series of new technology developments for fast and efficient depth profiling of Li ion electrodes.

First presented in late 2012 at HORIBA’s international GD Day, the patented developments include a proprietary methodology for handling fragile electrodes prior to analysis by GD; a patented development, “the Li bell,” for automatic transfer of air sensitive samples to the GD instrument; and our new patented Ultra Fast Sputtering “UFS” for fast sputtering of polymeric containing layers by glow discharge spectrometry.

In Glow Discharge the material of interest is sputtered using pulsed Radio Frequency plasma; the sputtered species are excited by the same plasma and simultaneously measured in real time with a spectrometer providing elemental composition depth profiles.

The analytical benefits of this technique include a gain in sensitivity parallel to the gain in speed. Both positive and negative electrodes have been sputtered with erosion rates reported to be of several microns per minute.

For more information: http://www.horiba.com/us/en/scientific/products/atomic-emission-spectroscopy/glow-discharge