Frequently Asked Questions

All cathode materials are selected from the highest purity available – usually 99.99 % or better – to ensure high spectral line intensity, stability and low noise with good analytical sensitivity. The window material is selected to achieve the optimum transmission of the primary spectral lines of the cathode element. Borosilicate glass is used for wavelengths over 350 nm, and high quality quartz for shorter wavelengths.

Standard hollow cathode lamps may be used in computer controlled spectrophotometers which are designed to take coded lamps as these instruments normally have the facility to be set up manually. Data coded hollow cathode lamps incorporate a unique electronic configuration in the base or plug which the instrument recognizes and sets default operating conditions for the routine analysis of that element.

The applications of hollow cathode lamps extend beyond atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) to include atomic fluorescence spectroscopy, multi wavelength laser tuning, laser output stabilisation (optogalvanic effect), multi component analysers, environmental analysers, and medical analysers.

A hollow cathode lamp is a gas discharge device in which the discharge is highly constrained within the cathode of a specific metal. The resultant output is a unique line spectrum, the most intense of which are suitable for highly specific and sensitive metals analysis.

The Heraeus hollow cathode lamp product range comprises 70 single-element lamps and more than 120 multi-element lamps of the most varied designs to cover almost all appliances.

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