Standard 37 mm Lamps
37mm hollow cathode lamps are suitable for most commercial atomic absorption instruments. Standard lamps may
also 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.
Manual setting up of lamp current, wavelength, slit width,
gas conditions and burner height takes only a few moments
and allows the operator to set the optimum conditions for
each particular analysis, which can be stored and recalled
when required. Indeed in many cases
the instrument will set default conditions for these parameters on entry of the element. Whilst these parameters are
generally suitable for a particular element, they may need
fine tuning to suit the specific analysis being carried out.
Hollow Cathode Lamps
The Acutek range of Hollow Cathode Lamps includes 70 single-element
lamps in standard 37 mm (1.5 inch) diameters to fit almost any AA instrument. 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.
