Multiphoton laser wave-mixing absorption spectroscopy for samarium using a graphite furnace atomizer

Nonlinear laser wave-mixing optical technique is presented as a sensitive atomic spectroscopic method for the analysis of rare earth elements using an unmodified commercially available graphite furnace (GF) atomizer. A simple nonplanar backward-scattering degenerate four-wave mixing optical arrangement offers sub-picogram detection sensitivity with sub-Doppler Lorentzian-broadened resolution. Nonlinear wave mixing is an unusually sensitive absorption-based optical method that offers both excellent detection sensitivity and sub-Doppler spectral resolution. A mass detection limit of 0.7 pg and a concentration detection limit of 70 pg/ml are determined for a rare earth element, samarium, using the 429.7-nm excitation line.