One of the most promising of new spectrochemical devices is the r.f. powered glow discharge (GD). In addition to being a self-contained solids atomization/excitation/ionization source, the device permits the direct analysis of non-conducting sample types such as glasses and ceramics. While only recently emerging on the atomic spectroscopy scene, the r.f. GD has been known in the physics and semiconductor fabrication communities for over three decades. This review is intended to acquaint the reader with the underlying principles which permit the generation of an r.f. plasma at a non-conducting surface, some of the plasma characteristics of r.f. GDs and the pertinent source design criteria for application in analytical atomic spectrometry.