The rapid simultaneous analysis of up to sixty elements fits the requirements of many facets of the metals industry, from production control to R&D or from incoming material inspection to scrap sorting. Typical applications involve determination of the metallurgical content of iron and steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, zinc, lead and many other metals and alloys.

The optical emission technique utilizes a high energy spark created across an argon-filled gap between an electrode and a sample of the material to be analyzed. The spark creates an emission of radiation from the excited sample surface with wavelengths characteristic of the elemental composition. The spectrum of radiation is separated into the distinct element lines and the intensity of each line is measured. Finally, these are accurately converted into concentration values for each element present.