Detectors:

As you have learnt on molecular spectroscopic methods, there are three basic types of detector systems. These are photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), photodiode arrays (PDAs), and charge coupled devices (CCDs). Most of the instruments use photoelectric means of detection in the form of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), or with photodiode arrays. Further to this, within a few cases photoplates are also used for detection reasons in AES. A number of modern instruments have now switched to solid state array detectors that use charge coupled devices (CCDs) or charge injection devices (CIDs).