Application of laser-induced luminescence technique to the analysis of ultratrace levels of uranium

Laser-induced luminescence technique with a compact nitrogen laser as an excitation source has been successfully applied to the determination of ultratrace quantities of uranium. The alteration in emission spectra, intensity, and lifetime produced by the addition of chemical enhancers is examined. The intensity of the emission is linear with respect to the concentration of the uranium in samples. The detection limits are better than those obtained with conventional methods, ranging from 30 to 0.5 parts per trillion. Analytical data using this method are presented for environmental and biological samples containing parts-per-billion of uranium.