A review of normalization techniques in analytical atomic spectrometry with laser sampling: From single to multivariate correction

Despite many advantages of laser sampling in analytical atomic spectrometry, the signal intensity of these hyphenated methods suffers from the specific influences resulting from the laser ablation process of a sample. The problems that arise affect the accuracy and precision of analytical results. Different techniques of analytical signal normalization which improve figures-of-merit for atomic spectrometry with laser sampling are considered in this review. The characteristics and application of these approaches including the use of internal standards, single or several reference signals and multivariate correction of analytical signal are discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.