Igniting Optimal Results
Instrumental Analysis
Made to measure
GDOES
About Us
Comprehensive Analysis
Your one-stop
analysis solution
Save time and money with Spectruma Analytik's GDOES devices, designed to meet all your analytical needs. Thanks to feedback from our customers, we’ve become a trusted leader in GDOES spectrometry. Whether you’re inspecting incoming goods, monitoring production, ensuring industrial quality control, or conducting scientific research, we have the perfect solution for you. Our high-performance GDOES spectrometers provide fast, precise measurements for bulk and depth profile analysis of solid materials. Join users worldwide who rely on our instruments every year for accurate, reliable results tailored to their applications.
GDOES – Briefly Explained
Simplified Operating Principle
The sample is inserted into the glow discharge source, where it comes into direct contact with the cathode, effectively acting as a cathode itself.
During the analysis, the glow discharge source contains argon gas at low pressure (0.5 hPa to 10 hPa). A high DC voltage is applied between the anode and the sample (acting as the cathode). This process releases electrons at the sample's surface and accelerates them towards the anode.
As the electrons gain kinetic energy, they release it through inelastic collisions with argon atoms, resulting in ionization of the argon atoms and the formation of argon cations and free electrons. This avalanche effect increases the density of charge carriers, transforming the insulating argon gas into a conductive state and forming a plasma—a mixture of neutral gas atoms and free charge carriers.
The argon cations are driven towards the sample surface due to the high negative potential present there. Upon impact with the sample surface, the argon cations transfer their kinetic energy to the atoms on the surface, causing them to be dislodged from the sample. This phenomenon is known as cathode sputtering or simply sputtering. The degradation of the sample surface occurs in a plane-parallel manner.
The atoms knocked out from the sample diffuse into the plasma, where collisions with high-energy electrons excite them to higher energy states. As these atoms return to their ground states, they emit light with characteristic wavelength spectra unique to each element.
The emitted light passes through the entrance slit and then onto a holographic grating, which directs it towards different detectors based on the diffraction angle of the wavelengths. The light is registered and measured by the detectors accordingly.
The intensity of each line is directly proportional to the concentration of the corresponding element in the plasma. For electrically non-conductive materials, high-frequency alternating voltage can be employed to generate plasma, allowing examination of non-metallic samples as well.
GDOES spectrometer
GDA
Range of instruments
Service & support
Unlock Optimal Results
with Our Expertise
Spectruma News
Training date 1
16. of September to 17. of September 2025 at Spectruma company Hof, Germany. Please click here to sign up.
Innovative Techniques for Accurate Hydrogen Analysis and Material Safety
Hydrogen Detection in Materials with GDOES
Discover how Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy (GDOES) offers unparalleled sensitivity for detecting hydrogen, an element crucial for preventing material fatigue due to hydrogen embrittlement.
WinGDOES
Software WinGDOES 5.5
WinGDOES 5.5 is now available! With even more features and improvements, our latest software version offers an even more efficient and user-friendly experience. Update now and take advantage of the new possibilities!
Spectruma
For over 40 years, Spectruma® has been at the forefront of manufacturing and developing high-tech instrumentation for elemental analysis. Our exceptionally powerful method, glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GD-OES), enables precise bulk analysis of almost all elements, including H, C, N, and O. Simultaneously, it provides the highest depth resolution for depth profile analysis of surface layers.
