Determination of oxygen in magnesium by glow discharge mass spectrometry

In the present experiments, preferable results were obtained by applying glow discharge mass spectrometry (GD-MS) for quantitative analysis of oxygen in magnesium. The relative sensitivity factor (RSF) method was applied for measurements, since there was no standard material for magnesium analysis. Removal of the surface oxygen contaminants was investigated before the Mg specimen measurements. It was clarified that 5000 s of pre-discharge period was required to remove surface oxygen for both of pin shape and disk shape samples. As a result, the oxygen contents of the pure Mg and re-dissolved Mg were obtained as 9 ppm and 26 ppm, respectively. In order to check the results obtained by GD-MS measurements, charged particle activation analysis was also applied for the same specimens. The oxygen contents of the pure Mg and re-dissolved Mg were obtained as 12ppm and 26ppm, respectively with this method. On the basis of the results, GD-MS is possible technique for oxygen analysis in Mg and its alloys with high sensitivity.