A simple modification to the AEI Autospark unit

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Abstract
A modification to the AEI Autospark unit is described, which makes it possible to set the mean electrode gap at any desired value. Short term changes are limited to within 4 mu m. Relative standard deviations down to 1-2% at the matrix level and 3-4% at the parts per million level are currently obtained without using the vibration of one electrode. This allows one to obtain higher ion beam transmission, to increase the analysis speed, to use materials normally found difficult to spark and to study the influence of the electrode gap on analytical results.